


I Missed Your Kiss

by Shido_Burrito



Series: Nightbreeds and Travelers [2]
Category: Nightwalker Mayonaka no Tantei | Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective, Pendragon - D. J. MacHale
Genre: Angst, Cock Rings, Consensual Sex, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Fluff, Handcuffs, Hot Springs & Onsen, Japanese Culture, Light Dom/sub, Light Sadism, M/M, Out of Character, Vampires, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-11-29 00:32:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 44,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11429460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shido_Burrito/pseuds/Shido_Burrito
Summary: Bobby Pendragon is confused by the dreams he's been having about a life he doesn't remember living. It's not until he finds a secret door in a subway that these memories start to come back, but the confusion grows when two people he used to know step out of the newly-created flume.





	1. Old Dreams and New Lives

**Author's Note:**

> Since I can't leave well enough alone I decided to write more. I can't stop. Seriously. My brain's like, "I want you to make real this imagined scenario. Write it now, now, NOW!" So...expect more.

Bobby’s eyes flew open and he sat up with a gasp. His sheets clung to his sweaty body, still shaking from a dream he couldn’t remember. Was it the dream that had awakened him?

The queer feeling that had been continually turning his stomach for the past week was still there, he had finally learned how to sleep through that, but his dreams were becoming more and more...vivid. He could never remember the whole dream, but if he was quick enough he could write for 10 minutes in his dream journal, recounting what he could remember before it all slipped away from him. 

He scribbled feverishly in the journal, having developed his own form of shorthand just so his writing could keep up with his thoughts before they blew away with the approaching morning. He remembered someplace hot. A jungle? The feeling of being hunted. His mind thought “panther” but he didn’t think that was the hunter. A group of scared people huddling in a cave. A giant waterfall. Klee. Gar. Then...what? Something important.

Bobby threw his pen across the room as the rest of the dream completely slipped away. It always happened like this. He was right on the verge of remembering something important, some sort of victory, people cheering. People parting. Someone dying amidst the cheers.

If you looked back on the dream journal, you would have thought that Bobby was suffering from schizophrenia. One dream dealt with water, pirates, giant barges, and the next night it was technology, virtual reality, a giant pyramid. Deserts, jungles, oceans, blimps, castles. Each night Bobby’s mind acted as if it belonged to someone completely different.

Sometimes, if Bobby was lucky, he could fall back to sleep, and the dreams he had then were never ones he wrote down. They were more emotional than visual, anyway. Someone embracing him in a warm hug. A sense of security, friendship, and love. An eternal smile that always seemed to be waiting for Bobby when he closed his eyes, but he never could recall the rest of the face.

The alarm clock on Bobby’s phone began to chirp and he groaned. If he didn’t get up now, he wouldn’t get to school in time. Along with the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, Bobby had also gotten used to pretending like he knew what was going on. Had he always been an English teacher at the school? The more he wracked his brain for memories of before a month ago, the sicker he felt as memories became fewer, and fewer. Sometimes the dreams he wrote in his journal felt more concrete than the memories his brain haltingly gave up.

He didn’t have time for this. If he didn’t get up now, he was going to miss his train to the elementary school. With one last glance at his journal, he scrubbed his face with a hand. Maybe he should look into getting a medical screening. He was pretty sure the JET program had some sort of medical benefits. He’d look into that later, right now he was officially running late.

 

Luckily, Bobby had made his morning train to the Ikego Elementary School with plenty of time to grab a breakfast at the convenience store, and an extra rice ball for lunch. Once he had settled in with his lesson plan for the day, there was no time to dwell on strange dreams and hazy pasts. The students were always happy for Bobby’s enthusiastic English lessons, and he did his best to incorporate games to keep the classes fun rather than boring repetition. 

After the last bell rang, and the students went home or to their extracurriculars, Bobby swung by the teacher’s lounge to pick up his suitcase. The other teachers were all in there doing the same.  One of the 5th year teachers, Kenji Yamato, who had a desk near Bobby’s, swung his chair around. 

“Heeey, Pendragon, you wanna go out drinking with the rest of us after this? The principal promised us all a free beer if we go to that izakaya he likes!”

Bobby cocked his head, that actually sounded really good right now. A little alcohol to hide from his problems for a while seemed a good plan. He nodded enthusiastically, “That sounds excellent, Yamato! Hobey ho, let’s go!”

Kenji tilted his head, “Is that some weird English phrase?” He grinned, “I like it! Ho-bi ho!!!!”

Bobby made sure not to let his smile slip, but his amusement had completely left him. Where  _ had _ that phrase come from? It was not an American saying. Sounded Australian to him, but he had never heard it before in his life. Or at least not in the bits of his life that he remembered. 

Clicking closed his suitcase he joined the team of teachers out of the school and toward the local station; he was really looking forward to that drink now.

 

The free drink was great and exactly what he needed, as was the yakitori, and the second beer, and the third. The karaoke afterwards was also great, but with it came a couple Chu-hi to help ease his raw throat as the guys kept making him sing songs in English. Then Japanese. Some in German. Even one in Russian. Bobby was having fun being in the spotlight, as the teachers were always impressed with his ability to fluidly switch from language to language, and often made him do this trick when they went out after work.

They were thankfully able to wrap it up before the last subway train of the night and Bobby gratefully stumbled onto it and plopped down. He was the only one in his car; this line wasn’t a popular one as his apartment was more on the outskirts of the city, almost bordering on the countryside. So when the amount of buildings increased, and the view of the ocean as well as the glittering Tokyo skyline increased, heading towards a large bridge, Bobby groaned. He had gotten on the correct line, it was just going in the wrong direction. If he was lucky, he could get off at the next stop and hopefully there would be one more train to take him in the right direction. 

 

“Shit,” he grumbled as he got off the train and it remained parked, as well as its partner on the other side of the subway tracks. They were done for the night. 

Bobby sighed, he’d have to try and find a capsule hotel, or a manga cafe, someplace where he could catch a few winks of sleep. He was lucky that it was a Friday and he didn’t have to teach during the Saturday half day.

As he stood there in the silence he came to realize that the feeling in his gut, the one that he had been able to ignore and push to the side, was now almost making him sick with the rapid flutterings and flippings it was doing.  _ Maybe I just drank too much _ , Bobby thought, but knew it wasn’t true. 

A breeze passed through the empty tracks, not one created from an oncoming train. He didn’t hear the screeching sound of wheels and brakes, but instead a slight chiming noise. It was pretty...and familiar. 

Bobby leaned out over the track and looked down into the dark pit of the tunnel, and in a flash his mind showed him a similar tunnel, one that was filling with a white light and that musical sound. He blinked and it was gone, but the breeze and the noise was still echoing up the track to him.

He didn’t even take the time to think about what he was doing, like a man in a trance he hopped down onto the tracks. Grabbing his cell phone he turned on the flashlight, following the source of the pleasant breeze, swearing he recognized the smell on it. It didn’t carry the smell of the subway--gear oil and stale sweat-- but he couldn’t describe it, except that it kept giving him flashbacks to his dreams. Ones where he was floating, surrounded by light, sometimes alone, sometimes others floating around him, but he could never see their faces.

His cellphone illuminated the subway walls, but Bobby could have found the door even without its light, because his stomach made a great big flip and a jolt of electricity shocked through his mind, forcing him to stumble into the wall. The wall thunked hollowly, and Bobby banged his hand on it once more. The door creaked open and all sound and wind stopped. It was as if the whole world was holding its breath.

Stepping through, Bobby held up his light to the glittering, gray rock, gazing around. It wasn’t a supply closet, or a control room, he didn’t even think it was part of the subway as the rock didn’t match the rest of the concrete. Looking one way was a tunnel, one that looked as if it was roughly dug so deep into the earth he wouldn’t be surprised if it went all the way through the crust to the planet’s mantle. Glancing back at the door, now closed, he saw that there was a small rectangle of paper pinned to the back of it. Walking closer, he observed that it was a business card.

Taking it down, Bobby read it over. Why was there a card for a detective in this strange tunnel? Would he know more about it? Would he have answers as to why Bobby was feeling so...weird about this place?

Turning off the flashlight and bringing up his phone, Bobby was glad to see he got reception here, one, miraculous little bar, and he quickly dialed the number on the card. He paced further into the tunnel as the phone rang, reaching up to touch the walls of the tunnel, and a male voice answered the phone.

“Tatsuhiko Shido, private detective, how may I help you?”

But Bobby couldn’t answer, he was frozen with one hand still touching the tunnel wall, the  _ flume’s _ wall.

“Oh fuck, it’s a  _ flume. _ ” He gasped, and a bright, white light seemed to pierce through him, beaming from out of the tunnel and blasting right through him, knocking Bobby to the ground. His world went black.

 

Shido leaned over and pointed his flashlight at the man passed out in the flume tunnel. He smelled alcohol on his breath and would have just waved it off as a random drunk wandering his way in, but this man wasn’t Japanese, and had used the word “flume”. Caucasian with brown hair and a beard, the mysterious drunkard was wearing a suit; a suitcase lay near the entrance of the flume and Shido picked it up.

Unlocking the case, he ruffled through its papers, glancing at the graded tests and sloppy handwriting, Shido figured this man was an English teacher for younger students. A small pocket within the suitcase’s lining provided him with the man’s business cards:

 

Robert Pendragon.

 

Shido sat back on his feet, staring at the name. This was  _ the _ Pendragon. The boy--now a man-- had been the one to bring about the ultimate downfall of Saint Dane, a man who was able to travel to other worlds, and plotted to bring them all down. Once all seven worlds fell, he would rebuild them from the ashes, making them better than they would have been had mankind continued under their own free will. A demon of Halla that had been brought down by Robert “Bobby” Pendragon and his fellow Travelers, destroying his physical body, and triumphing over the chaos his vision would have wrought. Apparently the spirits of Solara had other ideas as Saint Dane had found himself alive once again, next to powerless, and plotting ways to return to his previous status.

Then he met Shido and his plans were slightly changed.

“Euuughhhh!” Came a loud groan from behind, and Shido turned to see Bobby struggling to sit up. His face was pale but his eyes were bright and clear.

“Are you okay?” Shido asked gently, but stayed where he was, kneeling over the open suitcase.

Bobby seemed to finally notice that there was someone else here, his head pounding but his mind clear, for once. The bright light from the flume, the light of Solara, had filled him and washed away the confusion of who he was. Bobby remembered everything; the other worlds, his fellow Travelers, the battle for Halla and Solara, and their impossible victory. He even remembered living out his life and dying as an old man with Courtney. 

This was all wrong, why was there a flume? They had destroyed all the flumes, separating the worlds once again so that a convergence would never happen again. Yet it seemed someone had created another flume and it was happening all over again. 

Bobby glared at the man who was patiently and quietly waiting nearby, “Who are you?! What is going on here?”

Shido took a breath, “You are Bobby Pendragon, a Traveler, correct?”

“Yes, how do you know all this?!”

Shido waved the business cards, “Well, I found your name on these, but I have heard about you from a… a mutual acquaintance.”

“You’re not a Traveler, are you?” Bobby asked curiously, calming down a little as this strange man did not seem to want to hurt him; he sat up a little straighter.

“No, I think I’m what is called an Acolyte.” He held up his right hand, his ring glinting in the beam of the flashlight. “I’m still new to all this, though. Like, two weeks new.”

“This flume is only two weeks old?” Bobby asked, lining it up with the amount of time he had been here, in this city in a new life. He had been a spirit in Solara before that, he now remembered, but must have been sent back into a physical body in reaction to this new flume being created. Why would Solara even allow any of this? Who had made this flume? 

Bobby then seemed to grasp that Shido had said he was an Acolyte. “Wait, if you’re an Acolyte, then who’s your Traveler?”

Shido winced and sat completely on the ground, mirroring Bobby’s cross-legged pose. “You’re not going to like what I have to say, but let me assure you that I’m on  _ your _ side, as well as his.”

“His…?” Bobby’s gut dropped, his vision tunneled, and he knew deep down who this man was talking about.

Before either of them could say another word the ring on Shido’s finger glowed, and the tunnel behind him also began to get brighter, echoing with those familiar, musical chimes.

The two men closed their eyes against the brightness that had become all-consuming, and heard someone take a few steps towards them.

Bobby almost whimpered when a deep, familiar voice rung out in the flume. “Oh, a welcoming party! You shouldn't have.”

“Jesus, Saint Dane, give the boy a chance to process, he just now learned you’re still alive,” Shido chastised with a growl, but stood up from his spot on the ground and made his way over to the dumbstruck man. He stuck out a hand to help Bobby up, but it went unnoticed, as he could only sit there and stare in horror at the tall form before him. 

As tall as he remembered, the demon was wearing a blazer and slacks, a change from his usual asian-looking suit. His hair was once again white, but not from age, and Bobby stared up into a face that was in its youthful 30s, not old and fading, like the one that had begged to live when the final battle was won on Third Earth. 

Kicking high and fast, Bobby was able to quickly get on his feet and into a defensive stance. It didn't matter what Saint Dane looked like, his mere presence and existence was a dangerous sign. 

“Why are you not dead, Saint Dane?” Bobby snarled.

Of course Saint Dane's first response is a signature smirk. “And a hello to you too, Pendragon.”

“Seriously Saint Dane, quit antagonising the poor kid.” The Acolyte, Shido, said as he took a step between the glaring Bobby and newly-arrived Traveler. “I'm sorry Bobby, I wish I had had more time to prepare you for this, but your nemesis has been brought back to life.” He turned toward Bobby and grinned, “If it makes you feel any better, whatever powers that did this took some precautions before bringing him back.”

“It looks like they didn't try very hard to stop him, that flume shouldn't exist.  _ He _ shouldn't exist, not anymore! We killed you! Your power was depleted, your people turned on you and you bawled like a baby and flickered out of existence!” Bobby yelled and angry tears sprang into his eyes. “Why would Solara even  _ think _ to bring you back?! It undoes everything we fought for and everyone who died to protect Halla. It's a slap to the face!”

Saint Dane's mocking smile dropped like a rock and he glared right back. “You think I was thrilled to come back to life and find that everything I worked for, everything I put my spirit on the line for, completely wiped clean? The territories all back to how it was?”

Now it was Bobby's turn to sneer, “Good, that's how it's _ supposed _ to be Saint Dane. When are you going to learn _ that _ is exactly what we were fighting for? Mankind is supposed to have free will and make its own choices. It's when you started meddling that they lost the will to use their own potential to strive for greater things. That's why mankind disappointed you so much, you were just adding to their weaknesses, not improving them!”

“A very good point, Pendragon, and one we're working on accepting. Right, Saint Dane?” Shido piped up from between the two, bickering men. He had crossed his arms and was watching the argument like a tennis match. He was about to just step aside and let them punch it out, but he wasn't sure he could get them to stop.

Bobby turned his anger to the stranger, “And who are _ you _ ? Who's side are you on? You can't be this man's Acolyte and still pretend you are working for good. Everything Saint Dane touches becomes tainted.”

“I told you I was on your side, Pendragon, but I've kinda inherited the job of being Saint Dane's moral compass.” Shido flicked a thumb behind him.

Bobby let out a harsh laugh, “Moral compass? For that soulless piece of shit? You might as well just go and kill yourself now, because that's how you'll end up either way: dead. That's like a mouse trying to tame a lion. Give your ring to me and leave us before your life gets any more messed up than it already is. I'll take care of him before he can do any more damage.” 

“Actually, I haven't done anything, here or on Cloral.” Saint Dane spoke up.

Bobby paled, “You've already traveled to Cloral? Oh god…”

“I have his journal if you want his version of what he did there,” Shido said. “I can tell you it wasn't much. A lot about drinking sniggers. A lot.” Shido frowned and turned towards Saint Dane. “Seriously, I think you may have an addiction. Also, nice tan. You must have been working really hard on that while you were gone.”

Saint Dane wiggled his eyebrows, “Jealous?”

Shido grinned, “A little.”

Bobby just stared at the calm, playful interaction between the two with his brows furrowed. This Shido didn't seem afraid of Saint Dane at all, which meant, in Bobby's mind, he didn't understand in least how dangerous the demon was.

“Saint Dane is a master manipulator, Shido, so don't believe for a moment anything he says, much less writes.”

Saint Dane smiled, “That's why I'm prepared with a second opinion.”

As if on cue, the flume behind him began to fill once again with light, and the three of them all took a step back and turned to watch.

Bobby again knew who it would be, and he wasn't sure if the flips in his stomach were from nervousness, or excitement. He kept his eyes open for as long as he could, hoping to see who it was, but was forced to shut them at the last minute. He opened his eyes as soon as he was able, but the after-images in his vision blocked him from seeing anything. It didn't matter though, because a bright, chipper voice spoke up almost immediately.

“Blimey, it's been awhile since I've made that trip!”

Bobby didn't even wait for his vision to clear, he ran towards the voice and threw his arms around the warm body he ran into, nearly sending them both tumbling to the ground. “Thank Halla, Spader, oh my God I've missed you! I'm so glad you're okay.” He said, almost crying in happiness and relief.

Spader returned the hug with equal zeal, “Boy am I glad to see you too!” Spader pulled back and smiled, “Hobey, what's this stuff all over your face?” He gave a playful tug to the scratchy, brown beard that hid much of Bobby's face.

Bobby grinned, “I guess Solara thought I could use some hair to cover up this baby face.” He looked Spader over, “You pretty much look the same, just older I guess.”

“Always a flatterer, aren't you, mate?” Spader jerked a thumb to Saint Dane who had been quietly standing by, “What about this evil woggly, he giving you trouble yet?”

Bobby fell into a shocked silence. He had honestly almost forgotten about the demon, who was being uncharacteristically silent, but Spader's blase attitude about the man was the bigger surprise.

“Uh, I'm not sure. I'm only just getting up to date on things.”

Spader nodded in understanding, “Yeah, I was brought back a year ago. Spent a month or so living the life of an author until I bumbled into a flume. Never had a worse headache in my life after that update! So imagine my surprise and horror when I ran into _ him _ at a book signing.” He punctuated his sentence with an actual poke to Saint Dane's arm.

“Not very hard to imagine, I'm kinda freaking out about it right now. I'm only two weeks into physical existence and just wandered in here less than an hour ago.”

“Oooh, sorry mate. This must be a lot to suddenly parse.”

It was a lot; in fact it was a little too much. Now that Bobby's emotions had calmed a bit after seeing Spader, his dehydrated, slightly drunk body was currently making him aware that it was on the verge of crashing, making him sway unsteadily.

“Whoa there, buddy,” Spader rushed forward and steadied Bobby with an arm around him. Bobby suddenly realized that Spader was still in his diving suit and gave a blush. “We're going to need to find you clothes,” he mumbled.

“Oh! Hold on!” Shido snapped his fingers and went to a corner opposite the doorway into the flume. He came back with a bag and handed Spader some folded items of clothing. “They should fit you pretty well, thankfully you're not a behemoth like _ some _ people.”

Spader grinned, “Thanks!” He looked to Bobby, “I like your friend here, what's his name?”

“We only just met. That's _ his  _ friend, if demons ever really have friends.”

“I have friends, Pendragon,” Saint Dane scoffed, but added quietly, “It's keeping them that's the hard part.”

Shido extended a hand to Spader, “I'm Shido, Saint Dane's Acolyte.”

Spader whistled. “Good luck with that, mate,” he replied and returned the handshake.

“Seriously Spader, why are you so calm about all this? If there's anyone with a bigger hatred for Saint Dane than me, it's you.” Bobby asked exasperatedly while Spader began to throw the provided clothing over his diving suit. 

Spader hopped on one leg, putting on a pair of khaki pants and explained, “I’ve been trailing the guy for almost a year now. All he’s done is swim around and drink sniggers. In fact, he helped me fix one of the main rotors on Grallion.” Sapder finished buttoning up a black, shirt and gave a shrug. “I want to punch him as much as you do, Bobby, but as far as I can tell, he hasn’t really done much to deserve it. Now if we want to beat him up for his  _ previous _ wrongdoings, I think I may have a few punches left to give.” With a great crack of his knuckles, Spader eyed Saint Dane who merely looked unimpressed.

“I don’t know, Spader, you swear you watched him the  _ entire _ time since he arrived?”

“I was only aware of my own self for so long, mate, and it was soon after that I ran into him. I suppose he could have pulled something before then,” Spader mused.

Saint Dane startled them both by suddenly shouting “Denduron!!” at the top of his lungs. Bobby, flinched as the shout rattled inside his already-pounding head. 

“What the f-”

“Veelox!” The demon shouted this time. “Ibara! Eelong, Zadaa, Quillan, firstearththirdearth!!!” Everyone was still and holding their breath, all except Saint Dane that is, who stood with arms crossed to the flume, watching their reactions. When nothing happened for many, tense seconds, he put his hands on his hips. “There, happy? I’ve only made this one flume and its only stop is Cloral.”

“But nothing happened when you shouted the other Territory names. Shouldn’t this flume take you anywhere or create an exit on those other worlds?” Spader asked.

“No, this is great,” Bobby said, and grinned at the grim Saint Dane, the young Traveler having latched onto the point he had been subtly making. “He  _ can’t _ make any more flumes! Somehow he made this one to Cloral, but he’s unable to go anywhere else!” He laughed in the demon’s face. “You’re even less than a Traveler!”

“Watch your tone, Pendragon, I may not be as powerful as I once was, but I have no qualms using physical strength to make you hurt,” he growled, but noticed the glare Shido was giving him and backed down with a cough. “But it wouldn’t be a fair fight as you are currently weakened, and my victory would be too easy.”

“Yeah, you keep on thinking that,” Bobby grumbled but also took a step back. He turned toward the exit, his world still tilting a bit, so he leaned a little into Spader's shoulder.

Spader was glancing around the darkened subway tunnel in a state of deja vu. It did seem that Earth was fond if its flumes in subways. Saint Dane was holding the flashlight and lead them through the quiet tunnel, Shido behind him, carrying Bobby’s suitcase for him, with Spader and Bobby bringing up the rear. 

“Did you ever see him transform into anyone?” Bobby asked.

Spader shook his head, “Nope, kept the same face the whole time. His height was kind of useful, for once; made it hard to lose him in a crowd.”

“Maybe I didn’t  _ want _ you to lose track of me,” Saint Dane spoke up. He glanced back, “I knew I would need validation of some sort to prove I wasn’t sneaking behind the scenes and wreaking havoc.”

They all took a moment to scramble up the ledge of the tracks and back onto the subway station platform. Bobby refused Saint Dane’s offered hand to help him up, and the tall demon just rolled his eyes and turned off the flashlight, watching as Bobby gracelessly pulled himself up. When he was finally back on his feet, and feeling a little better now that they were away from the flume and back into the bright, station lights, he responded with a snort. “You mean we should just trust you after you’ve shown us what we want to see? Yeah, let me just throw away every little terrible memory I have of your murderous manipulations and start trusting you blindly.”

“I really don’t care what you think of me, Pendragon,” the demon continued, “But don’t accuse me of crimes I haven’t committed yet.”

“Fine, I’ll just judge you for the ones you  _ did _ commit.”

“I don’t think that’s your job, Pendragon.”

“No, that’s my job,” Shido broke in and stepped in between the two, seething Travelers. “While you’re on Second Earth, you’re under my jurisdiction, Saint Dane, and Spader is to. keep an eye out for you on Cloral, when I can't. So, if you have any doubts about Saint Dane’s intentions, Mr. Pendragon, then you take it up with us first. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Spader?”

Spader looked about as shocked as the others at this sudden step in from the quiet detective. He nodded dumbly and stuttered out an agreement, “Uh, y-yeah. I mean, you can count on me to keep an eye on him! Totally, you know that Bobby. One toe out of line and I will take him down!”

“No Spader, it’s not like that!” Bobby immediately turned to his friend with eyes wide, “I trust you implicitly, you know that! I just… I don’t want there to be  _ any _ chance for Saint Dane to be able to repeat his takeover attempt.” An assuring hand on his shoulder made him look up, into the warm and smiling face of Spader.

“No worries mate, not on my watch.” Spader gave a squeeze to his friend’s shoulder.

“Uuggghhhh, can we just get out of this subway and grab something to eat? You two can continue to make doe eyes at each other and affirming your hatred of me over a bowl of ramen.” Saint Dane groaned as he pushed his way through the touching scene, and ascended the stairway without waiting to see if anyone was following.

 

It seemed a temporary ceasefire was obtained as soon as the group entered the ramen shop. No one really had time to talk as they hungrily slurped their way through steaming bowls; except Shido, who sat quietly with a glass of water. Spader was especially impressed with the ticket machine that they had placed their order on, and ate his ramen with gusto. Bobby was making sure to drink plenty of water, and noticed that Saint Dane was matching him in drinks, glass for glass.

“You nursing a hangover too, there, Saint Dane?” He commented between mouthfuls of noodles.

Saint Dane took a sip before answering, “Nope, just making sure I’m well hydrated. Why? Do you have a theory as to how I might be trying to take down this Territory using cups of water? Doomsday brought about from a full bladder?”

Bobby turned back to his bowl, “You’re so fucking weird.” He missed the wink Saint Dane gave Shido over the rim of his glass.

 

“Here are the keys to your rooms. Spader, do you mind sharing with Bobby?” Shido asked. “They only had two rooms left for tonight.”

The team had followed the detective a few blocks away from the station and the ramen restaurant into a small hotel. It was plain and affordable, perfect for businessmen away on the job or needing a place to crash when missing the final train.

“Well, seeing as how the alternative is staying in a room with Saint Dane, I'll happily accept bunking with Spader,” Bobby replied and took the proffered key card from Shido.

Saint Dane took the remaining key card and looked hopefully at Shido. “Any chance you're rooming with me tonight?”

Shido smirked, “I was called away from my job by a panicking Traveler, and now that things seem to be taken care of for the time being, I should probably get back to detecting.” He leaned over and kissed Saint Dane briefly on the lips, and said softly, “Maybe you'll get lucky tomorrow.” To the entire group, which were all silent and shocked, he bid goodnight. “I'll be by around 5 so, get some sleep, stay out of trouble and we'll meet again in time for dinner.” And with that, the man was gone.

Spader was the first to break the silence when he turned to Bobby and asked, “Please tell me that's a cultural gesture around here?” 

Bobby only shook his head and the two of them were left staring after the demon as he abandoned them in the lobby to go find his room.

 

“I have _ so _ many questions,” Spader exclaimed and burst into their small hotel room. He threw himself onto the small, double bed, scooting aside to leave room for Bobby to sit down, but he instead stayed standing, pacing the room after putting down his suitcase.

“You and me both,” Bobby said and shrugged out of his suit coat. 

The room was small with just enough space for him to pace in one direction for 10 steps, past a small television on a small desk, and turning around at the tiny bathroom near the entryway. 

Spader also began to unbutton his shirt to get ready for sleep. Problem was, he wasn't very tired after seeing that kiss. He was worried.

“That Shido bloke seemed okay, but now I'm not so sure.” Spader mused.

Bobby yanked his tie off angrily, “I didn't trust him from the start. Anyone who volunteers to become an Acolyte to Saint Dane must be certifiable. Now we find out there might be more between them? Who _ knows _ what that stupid detective might have let Saint Dane do in the meantime? Moral compass my ass. This is just another Nevva situation. We should take care of it before it can get any worse.” Bobby ended his tirade by sitting down next to Spader with a huff.

“I agree completely except for one small thing: I kept an eye on Saint Dane too, even longer than Shido has, if he’s only been an Acolyte for two weeks. I stuck to the evil woggly like glue, and I'm telling you Bobby, he did nothing! Like, literally nothing, it got so boring at times.” Spader's tone was getting increasingly anxious. No one knew what Saint Dane was up to and that was dangerous, but a year's worth of spying had turned up nothing. “What would we even do to them to stop them? We can't… We can't  _ kill _ them!”

 

Bobby was quiet and deep in thought, “I don’t know Spader. I don’t want to kill anyone either but, what’s two lives if another war on all of Halla could be prevented?”

“I dunno mate, but that's a heavy decision to make.” Spader was finished disrobing and was back to just his diving suit; turning down the sheets he crawled in. Bobby stood up to allow him access and began to follow suit, joining when he was down to his boxers. The bed wasn’t large so the two of them were close as they lay down to sleep.

Bobby gave a big sigh, “What in the hell is happening? Why in the world is Saint Dane still alive? Did you hear anything when you were on Solara? I certainly didn’t.”

Spader shook his head, “No, I was right there with you, but there was not a trace of Saint Dane’s spirit. All the other Travelers were there. I wish Press or my Dad were here to tell us what’s going on. Why are  _ we _ back?”

Bobby switched off the light, plunging them into darkness. It was almost 2 a.m. and the craziness of the past couple of hours were starting to catch up with him. His mind was spinning, but his eyes were getting heavy. “Me too. Uncle Press always seems to know what’s going on. Maybe that's why we're here, they need us in physical bodies to stop Saint Dane before he becomes too powerful again.” He yawned, “But, if we don’t act now, it might be too late. I don’t want to allow the next war of Halla to come about just because we were indecisive.”

“Holding back and thinking things through is better than brashly killing someone,” Spader said softly. 

Bobby felt Spader turn over and press up against him, snuggling down into his pillow. The warm scent of Spader and Cloral brought back happy memories to Bobby of skimmers and sunlight, salty waves and beautiful underwater worlds. Bobby smiled, “It is nice having a physical body again though.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Spader replied softly, sounding like he was just on the verge of falling asleep. “You can’t kiss on Solara.”

Bobby’s mind was already slipping away into dreamland, but what Spader said echoed in his mind and followed him into his dreams.

 

Saint Dane had retreated to his own room and was sitting rigidly on his bed. He was a mess of conflicting emotions. He had been hopeful, when Shido had lead them to a hotel and gotten them rooms, that the night might end a little more satisfyingly than it had begun. It may had been only two weeks for Shido but for Saint Dane it had been almost a year since he'd been laid. So at the moment he was frustrated, both sexually and physically. When he had seen Pendragon, after stepping out of the flume, he knew things were about to get more difficult. He should have expected it, though, what with Spader also showing up on Cloral.

Pendragon already was more aware about Saint Dane's lack of power than he was comfortable with. It was _ right there _ , if he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could feel the power of Solara saturating the world around him, like it had always been. For a time, he had slowly been siphoning it away and transferring it to power his own dark Solara, but Saint Dane had always had a close connection to Solara's power, be it dark or light. He had originally been a spirit and a guardian of Solara, after all. It was still there, almost a physical presence he could reach out and shape and mold to his will, but now it was like trying to grasp fog. Wet, clinging, surrounding him, but unaffected by his efforts to hold or contain it.

He ground his teeth in frustration and tried again to do a simple transformation. He hadn't been able to make even the slightest change to his appearance on Cloral, which was why Spader never witnessed him changing faces; he had only played it off as his intention all along. But he had tried in secret to shift and failed miserably.

Here on Second Earth, though, he felt he was more in tune with Solara's power. It felt closer and more willing, yet here he sat, still the same Saint Dane that was mysteriously thrown back into this physical body. If he wasn't so angry, he'd be thankful his physical appearance was at least youthful; but he wasn't thankful, he was angry at being stuck, being mortal, and much less powerful than Bobby Pendragon.

With a growl he punched a pillow and immediately got back up off the bed. He needed to calm down and think things through, clear his head. Saint Dane's room was modest, but the attached bathroom included a small soaking tub. A bath sounded like a good way to try and relax, and he hadn't had one in a while. On Cloral they only had showers, really. No one thought to soak in a tub full of water, or really had the desire to, when their entire world was one, giant puddle.

After doing his best to strip in the small space and turning on the water, Saint Dane set the temperature to as hot as he could stand, and even a little hotter. On the nearby sink were complimentary shampoos and toiletries. One package was labeled as bubble bath. With a shrug, and a promise to murder anyone who let this secret out, Saint Dane dumped the packet into the filling tub. The water turned a gentle purple and the wafting steam carried the soft scent of lavender, immediately making his mind think of soft, long hair of a similar color.

With an uncharacteristically gentle grin, Saint Dane slowly lowered himself into the soothing waters, let out a weary sigh, and leaned his head back. His knees poked up out of the water and he was curled up so he could fit, but the water was blissfully hot and already helping to loosen tense muscles.

He inhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes, the lavender surrounding him warmly.  _ I wish it was Shido, _ he thought, then smiled.  _ Shido wouldn't be nearly this warm though.  _

While on Cloral, he had thought about the detective a lot. It had only been one night together, but apparently that had been enough to make the demon reconsider his plans of trying to take back Halla once again. Shido--thin, polite and good-natured--had turned into a fucking beast when they had checked into a room at a love hotel. Saint Dane had wanted to be dominated, not confident he'd get much from this slight detective, but was pleasurably proven wrong. 

He had replayed that night in his head many times in the past few months on Cloral, and it still hadn't gotten old, if his stirring arousal was any indication. In fact, sitting there in warm, purple waters, breathing in the lavender, Saint Dane felt the power of Solara like he never had on Cloral. The mind-numbing boredom and humdrum of everyday living there seemed to have dulled his connection to Solara. Yet, since returning to Second Earth, he had noticed a stronger connection to the flow of Solara around him. And now, in this tub, his thoughts turning to Shido, frustrations melting away, Saint Dane was tuned in to the power like never before. It hummed through him, filling him, like a lover. Like Shido. 

Saint Dane didn't even realize how aroused he had been until he was suddenly climaxing from the sheer ecstasy of being so in touch with the positive spirit of Solara once more. He gasped and opened his eyes wide in surprise.  _ Did that really just happen? _

Shakily getting out of the tub and draining it, Saint Dane quickly toweled off and turned to face the mirror. A heater on the other side had prevented it from fogging up, so Saint Dane was able to easily view himself. Shido had commented on Saint Dane's tan, and he hadn't really noticed it until returning from sunny Cloral to once more being among the pale bodies of Japan. His white hair stood out more sharply now than ever against this darkened skin. There was no hope blending in now in Japan. _ Not like I did anyway, being seven feet tall and pale haired _ -

His image flickered and a familiar rush of power surged through him, immediately compressing his frame and darkening his hair. A few seconds later a Japanese man was staring back at him. No one in particular, just another face in the crowd, a regular businessman you might see taking the train to work. Saint Dane was so shocked he scrambled backwards with a shout, his shorter legs almost slipping out from under him, but he grabbed the counter to steady himself. When he looked back he was himself again, but his hair had stayed raven black, looking much like it had during his time on Third Earth, ruling over Ravinia. He ran a hand through it, but it felt the same, and with a moment of concentration he could feel the faint tingle of power shiver through his scalp. 

He grinned at his reflection and began to laugh. Oh this was _ wonderful _ ! He still had it! The power to transform! 

Quickly exiting the small, humid bathroom he sat on his bed and closed his eyes, once again concentrating on the feel of the energy of Solara. The spirit of all intelligent life, all that was and all that will be, Solara ran through all the territories and every living thing. To have it back in his control was like a drug and he eagerly reached out for more. He needed it if he was to overpower Pendragon. A raven would be perfect; a simple transformation and a nostalgic one. 

Saint Dane smirked maliciously and greedily pulled in the power, imagining himself becoming the small, black bird. He felt it tingle down his arm, and feathers prickled and sprouted, but it abruptly stopped. As if someone had pulled a plastic bag over his head, cutting off all air, Saint Dane froze and gasped as the spirit of Solara was sucked away and denied to him. His arm burned and his heart stuttered, and Saint Dane feared he was having an actual heart attack. He floundered for even a brush of power, and when his tormented senses could find no trace of the spirit that had always been there, like air, he passed out into the nothingness.


	2. Kaiseki Meet n' Greet

Bobby did not want to wake up, and was happy that it was finally Saturday, meaning he didn’t have to teach. He did have papers to grade, but those could wait. He was feeling very warm and comfortable right now, surrounded by a nice smell he couldn’t quite place, and he snuggled further under the covers. There was something very warm on his back, and his eyes slowly opened when an annoying, hard, lump continued to poke him in his lower back. What  _ was _ that?

Oh. Spader. It all came rushing back to Bobby and suddenly he realized what exactly he was feeling poking into his back.  He blushed and went stock still, now aware of the deep, sleepy breathing of the body behind him. How close Spader was, too. The scent that he had been smelling had been the warm, ocean perfume that was Cloral, emanating from the sleeping Spader. It was amazing how certain smells could bring back memories so clearly, and Bobby smiled at the ones the ocean of Cloral evoked. 

Meeting Spader had been fortuitous, the third Traveler of his generation he had been introduced to, but the first one he had really connected with. Even now, Bobby considered his friendship with Spader to be deeper and different than any of the other Travelers. 

Yet all that had been lost when they had served their purpose as creations of Solara, and their spirits returned to Solara once more, to act as guardians. When there, human need and stress didn’t exist; human form or physical bodies didn’t exist either, really, so there was no need to really have human cares.

_ You can’t kiss on Solara. _ Hadn’t he heard Spader say that as he was falling asleep? It was true. You didn’t have physical bodies on Solara. You were everywhere and anywhere at once. You weren’t physical, so you didn’t have to meet in a specific spot, but you also didn’t really stop to chat. If Bobby had been thinking about Spader, he would just suddenly be aware of the other’s spirit, all feelings and intentions and thoughts laid bare, but Solara was a place of positive energy and potential. A spirit there was pure and innocent. Meanwhile, a physical body was closed off and had needs; if you needed something or someone, you had to communicate to get it. It seemed Spader’s physical body was currently experiencing one of those needs. You didn’t kiss on Solara because your spirit didn’t really need to, but if Bobby was being honest, he really missed physical touch.

_ I wonder what Spader is dreaming about? _ Bobby mused, not wanting to wake his friend if his dream was so...arousing. But what if the dream got too intense? Spader was right up against him.

He gulped, trying to force his mind to quit imagining his friend so lewdly, but a sort of guilty curiosity kept worming it's way into his thoughts. If Spader had a wet dream he'd feel it, the warm release of semen would soak through and onto his back. He'd feel his friend's dick throb and twitch. Would Spader make any noise? Would he moan? Would it be a name? Would it be Bobby's?

With that final thought, Bobby leapt out of bed, his friend's peaceful sleep be damned. He heard Spader snort awake but was already slamming the door to the bathroom before the other man even opened his eyes. 

Safe inside the bathroom, Bobby turned on the shower to cold, and tried not to yelp when he ducked under its spray. His teeth chattered but the cold water was a welcome distraction, and Bobby scrubbed away his thoughts, throwing himself wholeheartedly into getting clean and ready for the day ahead.

When he got out, Spader had gotten dressed once more in the clothes Shido had provided him the day before. He sat on the unmade bed watching the small TV in amusement. 

He smiled up at Bobby. “G'morning Pendragon!”

As usual, the smile was innocent and infectious, chasing away any fears Bobby had that Spader may have guessed what had sent his friend racing into the shower. He grinned back. “More like afternoon now. I dunno about you but I'm starving!”

Spader looked relieved, “Glad you said it, I was feelin’ mighty peckish myself! Got any more delicious grub for me to try?”

“Oh yeah, let me introduce you to a cultural food here called sushi.”

 

Saint Dane awoke many hours later. He had fallen off the bed and an imprint of the carpet was decorating the side of his cheek. Sitting up, it felt like every joint in his body was on fire. His right arm brushed against the bed and Saint Dane yelped as his skin prickled oddly. Looking down he cursed. His transformation attempt had started out somewhat successful, but when his access to Solara's power had been cut, so had his transformation. His arm was covered in half-formed, black feathers. Some were flat and soft, some pointy and still encased in their new  sheath, all in various stages of growth. He looked at the arm with disgust, repulsed at the ugly mutation and immediately concentrated on transforming it back to normal. There was nothing, the power was gone. 

Saint Dane panicked but took a deep breath and held it. The last thing he needed was to hyperventilate into unconsciousness again. He let it out slowly and tried once again to search for any trace of Solara's presence. It's not like Solara was no longer there, it had to be, or else everything would have blinked out of existence, but he could no longer feel it, which was something that had never happened to him before. Ever.

It had to be the guardians, they were the ones that had started this, bringing him back to life, putting him in this physical body, and now they had cut him off completely from the current of power that had always surrounded him. If he felt like a weak mortal before, he didn't even have words to describe how useless and fragile he felt now.

Saint Dane pulled his legs up against his chest, still sitting on the floor, and with his arms curled protectively around him he brooded quietly.

 

It was getting close to 5 o'clock when Bobby and Spader returned to the hotel for their rendezvous with Shido. 

Spader had indeed been a big fan of sushi, enjoying the different presentations and combinations of Second Earth fish. His mind was completely blown when the little dishes of sushi were carried round and round on a conveyor belt, delighted with the concept of waiting for a delectable plate to pass by and snatching it off the belt. 

Bobby also got to show Spader his apartment, one he felt he lived in for months, but turned out it was only a few weeks. It certainly looked like it had been months, Spader made sure to point out, as there was dust and dishes in such quantities that two weeks seemed too little amount of time. Bobby, now changed into a much more comfortable outfit than his work suit, shrugged and blamed the mess on the thoroughness of Solara's eye for detail when creating his new life.

They also spent some time shopping for Spader, who couldn't spend his entire time here using his diving suit as underwear. They found him a few outfits that fit better, but this wasn't difficult, as Spader was lucky to be built like the average, Asian male, and he noticed this. 

“I had figured all people of Second Earth looked like you, or Gunny, or Patrick,” he mused.

“Earth is a huge place, Spader. Where we're at now? It takes a thirteen hour plane ride just to get back to New York.”

His friend's eyes bulged in shock as his mind tried to process this new information. Cloral was a much smaller world, and most of its inhabitants stayed close together on their floating habitats. Having a planet covered in water made development and expansion very slow.

Bobby looked his friend over. “I've always thought you looked Asian--this part of Second Earth is called Asia--but maybe a little more Indian? You're so tan I don't really know your usual skin color.”

Most of the afternoon was then spent giving Spader a lesson on Second Earth geography, some of which he had already learned from Gunny, or their time on First Earth during the time of World War II; Bobby decided not to go too much into Japan's involvement in that war. 

Bobby was thankful he had some money saved up, and Solara had also provided him with sufficient funds in a savings account, but he was relieved to stop shopping and return to the hotel. No one was in the lobby yet so they made their way back up to their room to drop off that day’s shopping.

 

Saint Dane had been holed up in his room the entire day. With the curtains closed and most of the lights off, he had covered himself in the bedsheets and tried to get used to this empty feeling. It took a while for his panic to recede, and once it had all it left was a very lonely feeling of solitude. He had turned on the television for some sort of background noise, but his mind remained uneasy at the lack of Solara.

His alarm at 3:00 went off and startled him awake. Saint Dane had somehow managed to get some sleep, but it was time to get himself ready to meet Shido, and he was going to need all the time he could get to compose himself. 

His first task was to get dressed and duck out of the room to grab medical supplies at the local 7/11. Wrapping his arm in bandages would make hiding the feathers, and dressing with them, a little easier. Plus he had already tried pulling out a few, and the larger feathers had made him bleed as they were ripped from his skin like a hair follicle. He was not looking forward to getting rid of the rest, but figured to wait until later; deep down he hoped that whatever was blocking his access to Solara would relent and he could painlessly transform his arm back to normal, but he wasn’t too sure that would happen. It was slightly fortuitous that he enjoyed pain, but this was just inconvenient, the true pain lying behind the reason he was having to pluck himself in the first place. 

He had been living this second life for over two years now, but this was his first day as completely mortal, and it sucked. He left the hotel aware of his mortality for the first time, never quite realizing how dangerous even crossing the street was, and it made him afraid, which in turn made him angry. With a grim expression he bought his medical gauze, made it safely back to his hotel, and got ready for the evening to come. 

When he was cleaned up and ready, his only outfit back on and his arm safely bandaged and hidden under the blazer’s sleeve, Saint Dane took a deep breath, pretended nothing had happened, and made his way down to the lobby.

Shido was there waiting, and Saint Dane’s mood actually lifted a fraction at the site of the man. Even more so when Shido’s eyes widened at the sight of Saint Dane’s new hair color, which remained black and unable to turn back, although like hell was Saint Dane going to reveal that little stipulation.

“What in the world happened to your hair?” Shido marveled as the Traveler approached him, and he reached out to touch it.

Saint Dane grinned, “Do you like it? I admit to vainly using a bit of power to change the color. Maybe I’ll blend in a little better here.”

Shido gave a snort, “You are quite the proud, little peacock, aren’t you?”

“Just trying to impress a mate,” he responded and waggled his brows. He grasped the hand that was touching his hair and yanked on it, bringing Shido closer, then ducking in for a kiss. 

Shido smiled into it but they quickly broke apart when a small voice hissed, “Hey buddy, enough with the PDA!”

Saint Dane looked confusedly at Shido; he must have been mistaken but it had sounded like the voice was coming from Shido’s hair. No, he was right, because a small, green face with pointed ears and red eyes suddenly appeared near Shido’s ear. It stared up at Saint Dane. “So this is the guy, Shido? Your KinkyMeetup?”

Shido nodded, sending an apologetic glance towards the other man. “Yes, Guni, this is him. His name’s Saint Dane. Saint Dane, this is Guni, that tiny imp friend I had said was the one who made me a profile on KinkyMeetups.”

Saint Dane gave the small imp a wink, “Thank you Guni.”

She grinned devilishly in reply, “No problem, but do know that if you do anything to hurt Shido, you’ll have three pissed off women hunting you down.”

_ It wouldn’t be the first time, _ he thought and tried not to shudder at the memories of the angry Travelers, specifically Loor, Aja, and Kasha.

The small face disappeared, and Saint Dane turned to see that Bobby and Spader had just made their way into the lobby, looking like they were enjoying themselves. The moment they saw Saint Dane, though, their faces fell and Bobby even looked a little scared at Saint Dane’s hair color. He smirked, as it must have been bringing back some bad memories for the young boy. Good.

Shido punched him in the arm, “You jerk, you didn’t change your hair for looks! That was a manipulative move, wasn’t it?”

“Well it  _ was _ for looks, but I may have sported this color at the peak of my reign,” he replied.

Pendragon approached to catch the end of the conversation and chimed in, “Oh, learning about his hair color choice? Yes, he had a Pretty Pretty Prince thing going on when he thought he had control over most of Halla, all puffed up and regal and young-looking. Yes, as a ruler of Ravinia he built a wall around New York and left those that didn’t follow him out of it to die, controlled people with robots, tried to execute my best friend in a public hanging, killed a fellow Traveler that had pledged her loyalty to him,” Bobby was ticking off these factors on his fingers, enjoying the look of anger that was beginning to build in Shido’s eyes. 

“Then a group of Travelers staged an uprising of those same followers as well as 70,000 other people, brought down all that I had worked for, including the Solara where I was getting my power from, thus destroying my chance at an afterlife, and then Pendragon here proceeded to beat me nearly to death and let my soul fade into the nothingness as thousands of people watched. Yes, that was indeed a great time for both of us, boy,” Saint Dane growled.

“Your Dark Solara may be obliterated, but I, for the life of me, can’t figure out why you’re still here.” Bobby spat back and the two glared at each other.

“Admittedly, I don’t know why I was given a second chance either, but I’m here, so what are you going to do about it?”

Two pale hands appeared on their chests and, with unnatural strength, pushed the two men apart. Shido was now frowning, as was Spader next to him. “Saint Dane is going to make the best of his second chance to try and fix his mistakes made in a past life. We’re going to give him the opportunity to make better choices and learn from our example that life can be just as good, if not better, helping rather than destroying. Also, he knows the repercussions if he’s found returning to old habits.”

Bobby gave a derisive snort, “Oh no, I’m sure you’ve really got him feeling repentant now, Mr. Detective! He’s  _ already _ up to his old antics, can’t you see? His ability to transform is back, that’s why his hair is black. That’s his way of saying he’s getting stronger and he’s trying to throw me for a loop with it! And I’m sorry, Shido, but what exactly are you going to be able to do about it? If it took an entire team of Travelers 8 years to stop this man, what makes you think you can make him change his ways and stop him if he doesn’t?”

The purple-haired man was not intimidated by either of the men who were currently looking at him for an answer, his hands still on their chests. He quickly glanced around the lobby, saw that it was only them, and clenched his hands into their shirts. With a seemingly effortless tug, he lifted the two of them off their feet and into the air above his head. He looked up and glared at the two of them. “Listen, you two, Yayoi has a reservation made for all of us and is treating us to a really nice dinner, and I’m not going to have it ruined by both of you bickering and fighting. Saint Dane,” he shook his arm, jiggling the tall man as if he were a rag doll, “You are doing horribly so far at trying to make a change in yourself, especially your attitude, since you’ve flumed back and you can bet you are going to be punished for it later. Stop playing the villain and try playing the role of the charming gentleman that I know you can be. And you,” he switched his glare over to Bobby, but didn’t shake him, “I have things more under control than you know. I’m not asking you to trust me, but I do have some aces up my sleeve. I ask that instead of riling the man up, you try to help encourage him to make the right decisions.”

Spader watched all this in an awed silence, and rushed over to Bobby when he had been placed gently back on his feet. Saint Dane brushed the wrinkles out of his shirt peevishly but wouldn’t meet anyone’s eye. Shido took a step back and gave them a moment, then clapped his hands and brightened up once more. “So! Who’s hungry?”

 

Bobby and Spader trailed behind the other two men and whispered to each other. What they had just witnessed had thrown them for a loop. Who in the world was this man, Shido, really? Should they be following him right now? He said he was taking them to meet his friends and out for a nice dinner, but it could certainly be a trap. How in the world was he so strong?

Down the street, to a familiar subway station, and onto the train, they followed the two at a distance, but neither of the men seemed worried that they had lost either of their trailing Travelers.  

It was when he was paying for a ticket at the machine for Spader, that Bobby pointed out something he noticed. Saint Dane had a wallet. A wallet that definitely included an IC card, and they watched as he stopped at a nearby machine, pulled out some yen, and reloaded his card. A plastic ID caught Bobby’s eye as it flashed inside the wallet’s holder, and there were other cards in there too. This meant one of two things: either Saint Dane had stolen the wallet, and someone’s identity, or he was legitimately a functioning member of society, somewhere here on Second Earth. Honestly, that second option was more distressing to the lead Traveler than the first.

 

The four men (and one hidden urban fairy) arrived at the restaurant, a place hidden in the upper floors of a building in Ginza. Bobby and Spader marched up the stairs with the others, nervous about what to expect. Shido had mentioned a person named “Yayoi” and that there would be others, but now they weren’t so sure what kind of company to expect. 

Bobby’s mood was slightly brightened when he noticed that Saint Dane was also starting to lag behind. Was he nervous, too?

The restaurant that they walked into was bright and beautiful, with a very traditional Japanese tone that used polished wood and painted, papery whites. The floor was tatami so everyone in the group stopped at a corner with lockers to take off and store their shoes. 

Bobby shuffled close to Saint Dane and whispered to him as they both leaned down to take off their shoes. “Nervous about something, Saint Dane?”

Saint Dane’s smile was thin, “I’m about to meet the two most important women in Shido’s life and be judged by them. Yes, Pendragon, I’m a bit apprehensive, but I want to impress them so  _ don’t _ ruin this for me!” He ended with a hiss, then walked to go stand by Shido.

Bobby almost couldn’t contain his giggles as he relayed this to Spader. This meal was an introduction! Was Yayoi Shido’s mom?

“Sounds like they’re dating, don’t it?” Spader asked. “Do you guys do that thing where you have to meet the parents?”

Bobby nodded, “Oh this is  _ perfect _ ! Let’s make sure mommy knows  _ exactly _ what their son is getting into.”

Spader frowned at that and finished locking up his shoes, “I’m all for ruining Saint Dane’s life, but didn’t you promise Shido to help encourage the woggly to be good tonight? Don’t stir it up too much, mate.” 

Bobby shrugged and grinned, “I’ll do my best, but if the opportunity arises…”

 

Yayoi, they immediately realized, was  _ not _ Shido’s mom. It was hard to tell her true age--as Bobby had learned, Japanese women didn’t start to look old until they were 60 or 70--but there were streaks of gray in her long black hair. She wore a short dress and had an amazingly fit body that Bobby did his best not to stare at. The woman was a stone cold fox.

She gave Shido a hug and then proceeded to shake everyone’s hand as they entered into the private room reserved just for their group. Other than Yayoi, there were two other people already seated at the low table; a girl with long, reddish-brown hair pulled into a high ponytail and wearing a red dress, and a typical, Japanese male with short, black hair and a dress shirt, next to her. The girl immediately ran to give Shido a big hug.

“Mr. Shido! I’m so excited! Which one is he?” She turned around to look at the newcomers, then pointed correctly at Saint Dane. “I remember you saying he was tall.”

Saint Dane gave a small, nervous nod and was immediately enveloped in an equally enthusiastic hug from the young girl. She took both his hands gleefully, “I’m so happy to finally meet you! My name is Riho Yamazaki and I’ve heard so much about you!”

Bobby’s attention was distracted from the scene by Yayoi approaching him and Spader, having been silent so far.

“Shido says you two know more about his boyfriend than he does, and that I should get the inside scoop from you.”

The two Travelers were startled that Shido would even admit as much, and did she just use the word  _ boyfriend _ ?? Spader was the first to find his voice again. “Oh, well you see ma'am, it might take more than just a dinner to tell you  _ that  _ natty tale, and I believe we’re supposed to be giving the man a second chance.”

Yayoi looked amused, “That’s what I’ve heard, and I don’t believe in third chances.” Yayoi briefly opened the shawl that was covering her shoulders and upper body and a frighteningly large gun in a holster winked out at them. Bobby instantly fell in love.

“I’ll certainly tell you if he tries to pull anything, but  _ I _ get to throw the first punch,” Bobby replied with a grin, and Yayoi laughed.

“Understood, Mr. Pendragon. Mr. Spader. How about you two come sit near me?”

She didn’t have to ask them twice. Bobby looked over to Spader who gave him a wide grin and a thumbs up. Yes, they both enjoyed this woman’s attitude very much.

Everyone else was starting to get seated on the floor around the long table. Yayoi, Bobby, Spader and Shunichi on one side, with Saint Dane, Shido and Riho on the other side.

Introductions were made once again, now that they were all settled in and getting their drinks. Bobby and Spader learned that Yayoi was  _ not _ Shido’s mom, but his business partner. While Shido was a private detective, he often worked in conjunction with the Kanagawa police department where Yayoi worked as an officer. Riho also worked with Shido at the office as a secretary and sometimes as backup. The man across from her was her boyfriend Shunichi, a filmmaker who was currently working on a piece to enter into this year’s Tokyo Film Festival. It was his first time entering into such a big contest, but Riho gushed about his talent and ability to make anything seem beautiful on the screen.

And then they met Guni, and once again, Bobby and Spader’s assumptions about these people crumbled. 

The hostess had left after serving tea and drinks, and suddenly a high voice from Shido’s direction demanded an introduction. Bobby and Spader were the only two at the table to gasp when a green, bat-winged, feminine fairy fluttered down to stand on the table in front of Shido. The fact that no one else at the table was panicking meant that only the two, young Travelers were unfamiliar with the existence of this creature. Not even Saint Dane seemed flustered.

Riho was the first to come to the boys’ defense, yelling at the imp to be polite and not scare them with a sudden appearance like that without warning.

“I’m guessing these things aren’t native to Second Earth?” Spader whispered to Bobby, who shook his head.

The creature, introduced to them as Guni, was the whole reason they were all here in the first place. She had taken it into her tiny hands to play matchmaker and wound up finding Saint Dane on a dating site and setting him up on a date with Shido.

Shido looked embarrassed, and hissed at Guni to shut up, but the story was out; again only coming as a surprise to Bobby and Spader. Saint Dane did online dating?

“Guni, go back into hiding for a few minutes while these two, poor, young men take the time to process. You’re rocking their world too fast.” Yayoi suggested and Guni sniffed haughtily and went back to hiding in Shido’s long hair, but not before snatching a piece of the appetizer from off of Shido’s plate to take with her.

Saint Dane looked concernedly at Shido, “Do you find you have to wash your hair more often if you have an imp living in it?”

“Only when she eats in there, so try not to leave any crumbs,  _ Guni _ !”

The laughter helped calm the two boys down, but they were still reeling from the information overload. 

Yayoi saved the day once again, after everyone had started in on their appetizer--a beautifully arrayed piece of sashimi with a dollop of wasabi and basil--she spoke up, “So tell us something we don’t know about Mr. Dane here. Now that you know we consort with a green sprite that lives in Shido’s hair, what’s something you can tell us about you Travelers so we can be in awe and amazement?”

“Good luck with that, I’m pretty fucking amazing!” came Guni’s reply from her hiding spot, and Riho growled out a warning about watching her language.

Saint Dane pretended to calmly eat his appetizer but Shido’s stiffening of his back gave away his nervousness at the boys’ answer.

Spader started out, “So, you know we’re called Traveler’s, right? So we can travel to other worlds and times!”

“Like Doctor Who!” Guni again interrupted.

Yayoi was nodding, “Shido told us as much, even though I don’t know who this Doctor character is, but that certainly is interesting.”

Spader grinned widely, “Unlike Bobby Pendragon here,  _ I _ wasn’t born on this territory, but am from another world called Cloral! It’s great! There’s nothing but ocean so we have these giant barges called ‘habitats’ where we live! We do a lot of swimming.”

“That sounds beautiful! Are there lots of pretty fish and warm weather and sunsets?” Riho asked. 

Spader nodded, “Just some of the best sunsets you’ll ever see! The water’s never cold, and the fish there are very brightly colored. I’m very proud of my territory. They did a great job bouncing back from… er… well…” He looked guiltily at Saint Dane who continued to act calm. 

His blue eyes regarded the Traveler over a mug of tea, and he shrugged. “You may as well tell them.”

Spader’s enthusiasm was immediately gone and he fidgeted nervously, “Cloral is still great, or rather, we’ve been rebuilt even better and stronger than we were before.”

“Before what?” Riho asked.

“Before I happened,” Saint Dane answered, and Spader was relieved to be out of the spotlight. He took over telling the tale. “I don’t think you can find anyone in all the ten Territories of Halla to have a reason to distrust me more than these two. Hell, they were  _ created _ by the powers I fell from, to stop me in my tirade to bring down all of time and existence, and then rebuild it and rule over it as my own.”

“Way to go Shido, you’re dating a super villain!” Guni teased sarcastically as she poked her head out to better hear the conversation.

“Shut up, Guni,  _ you’re _ the one who set us up!” Shido sniped back.

Saint Dane continued, “Needless to say, I came very, very close to my goal and many worlds were on the brink of irreparable destruction, but it was never meant to be. Every Territory had a Traveler--Pendragon from here, Spader from Cloral--and each one fought long and hard to stop me. In the end they did, and they thought they had killed me for good, so what you’re seeing right now are two young men that have known nothing but war for most of their lives, finding out the enemy they defeated is back among them. I can easily  _ say _ that my goal is to not return to my evil ways, but they’re here to make sure I stick to that. As well as Shido, who is also here to make sure I, as he puts it, “make choices for the good and betterment of Halla” and that I use this second chance wisely.”

“Let me guess, he threatened to cut off your head and throw you into a fire if you didn’t?” Guni asked. Saint Dane nodded and she laughed, “Shido, you need to come up with something different since that didn’t really work the last time!”

Bobby and Spader paled and looked at each other.  _ The  _ last  _ time?! _

Yayoi gave them a nudge and winked down at them, “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.”

Their second course then arrived, again a beautiful arrangement on small dishes that were placed before them. Seasonal vegetables and sashimi, as well as a type of jellyfish in sesame sauce. The work and the beauty that went into each dish helped ground Bobby to the present, as anything outside of these dishes was part of a world he thought he knew, and that was quickly changing. 

They discussed Travelers some more, explained Halla and Solara, how intelligent life didn’t always look like humans (Guni agreed), and what it meant that Shido was Saint Dane’s Acolyte.

What the boys didn’t notice was that Shido’s meal was being eaten, but not by him. Saint Dane did, but knew by now that the detective wouldn’t be touching his food, and saw Guni appear now and then to grab a mouthful here and there. He glanced down the table to see that Shunichi was being fed his meal by Riho, the two laughing when a bit of rice stuck to his face, but Riho wasn’t eating either, and Saint Dane saw a hint of a band-aid on Shunichi’s neck…

The rest of the meal went without incident as they all began to grow comfortable in each other’s company. Bobby and Spader really enjoyed talking to Yayoi, who was fascinated by Eelong, specifically the Klee. Shunichi was interested in getting details about Cloral, hoping to make a future film inspired by the idea of a world that was nothing but water--to which Guni snarkily told him there already was a movie and it was called “Waterworld”. 

Saint Dane managed to find a moment when no one was looking and passed Shido a small sake cup he had filled for him. Shido gave a questioning look and glanced into the cup, immediately brightening and downing the offered drink. 

 

When they left, everyone was in a much better mood than when the meal started. The food had been delicious and awesomely prepared, showing off the culinary talents in a traditional Japanese style. Yayoi paid for everyone, claiming you couldn’t put a price on new friends and good gossip. Riho gave everyone a parting hug, taking the time to shake a finger at Saint Dane and telling him to be good. Spader laughed at the comical scene as this dainty girl glared up at the tall man and threatened him in a high voice. Saint Dane smiled and pinky-promised. The group parted at the station, Yayoi taking Guni with her as well as Riho and Shunichi. Saint Dane, Shido, Bobby and Spader made their way back onto the subway and to their hotel. 

It was still early in the evening, only around 7 o’clock, but the sun had set long ago. Bobby wandered up to Saint Dane as they walked to the platform. “Hey, let me see your ID,” he demanded, and poked him in the arm. Saint Dane seemed to flinch in pain, but retrieved the wallet Bobby had spied earlier from his back pocket. Just as Bobby had feared, the ID was legit, with a photo of a grim, silver-haired Saint Dane--his name was even printed as that officially--as a legal resident of Japan. He even had an address that was a couple districts away from Tokyo. 

“My official ID as part of my Solara-issued second life,” he said as he snatched the wallet and ID back from the curious Pendragon. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the disorientating feeling of having an entire life made up for you and shoved into your memories.”

“It was the same for you then?” Spader piped up. He had been looking over Bobby’s shoulder at the ID and now gave the demon a long look. 

Bobby looked over at his friend, “You too?”

Spader nodded, “Told ya, mate, I’d been in a physical body on Cloral for a while before I was reunited with my memories as a Traveler. Solara did the same for me: gave me a physical body complete with a past and an ID. No one remembered Vo Spader, that life had already been lived.”

“Same for me! I lived out my life with Courtney and grew old and died!” Bobby stopped to consider, “What would happen if I flew to Stony Brook? Would I run into myself?”

“No, there’s only one of your spirit, so there’s only one Robert Pendragon or Vo Spader at any time on any territory,” Saint Dane explained. “You would find that Solara had rearranged Stony Brook and everyone’s memories of you to work around your current spirit’s existence as Pendragon the English teacher, here in Japan. No one knows about the Pendragon, probably even Courtney, who grew up and married in Stony Brook. That doesn’t mean it never happened, just not in this timeline. Solara is able to manipulate time as well as space, which is why you and all your timelines would have been super fucked if I had ever succeeded in taking over.”

Bobby growled, but Spader said confidently, “So it’s a good thing we kicked your ass!” and they laughed.

They had arrived in the lobby when Shido suddenly exclaimed that they were to check out early tomorrow, he was treating them all to a ryokan.

Spader looked confused, Saint Dane enthusiastic, and Bobby mortified.

“You're taking us to a hot spring? I can barely afford  _ this _ place on my teacher’s salary! Besides, I need to go back to my job Monday, and tomorrow's Sunday.” Bobby panicked. He couldn't just leave his job, could he? Maybe he could take a sick day. No, what was he thinking, going on a trip to a hot springs hotel with Saint Dane and whatever the hell Shido was, was insanity. Sure Spader would be there, and it would be nice to spend some time relaxing and catching up with him, but he couldn't just so readily quit his job, even if it  _ was _ all set up by the spirits of Solara.

“Don’t worry about paying for your rooms here, it’s all been covered,” Shido explained. “But starting tomorrow morning you will have to start paying on your own because I will be taking some time off to enjoy a ryokan in Hakone. I’ll pay for the rooms there for whoever wants to go, but I’m done paying here.”

Bobby looked over to Spader who shrugged, “I’m with you, wherever you decide to go, Pendragon.”

Bobby grumbled, “I’ll think about it and have an answer for you here in the morning.” He jerked his head, “I’m going out for a little while longer. Spader? Want to come with me?”

Spader nodded enthusiastically and started to follow, but stopped and turned back. “Hey,” he whispered to Shido, “See if you can get Yayoi to go and you might have a better chance of getting Bobby to agree to come with you!” With that suggestion, he was gone.

“Hm, he always was the peacemaker of the group,” Saint Dane chuckled as he came up behind Shido, watching the two boys leave. His hand reached down and gave a squeeze to the shapely ass in front of him. He leaned in close to the detective’s ear, “So, I think I was promised a little action tonight? I’ve been patient; like, 8 months patient.”

Shido turned around, denying any more access to his backside, and blinked innocently up at Saint Dane. “A promise? I don’t remember ever making a  _ promise _ . If I’m remembering correctly I said you ‘might get lucky tomorrow’.”

“It  _ is _ ‘tomorrow’,” he said with a fake pout, “And I would have thought you’d be hungry for me.”

Shido closed the space between them and stood on his tiptoes to look into those pleading, blue eyes, bright as chips of ice. “Oh I am, in  _ so _ many ways. Why do you think I decided to take a break from work and reserve us a room at a ryokan?”

“Yeah? What do you imagine doing to me at this romantic getaway?” Saint Dane purred and brought a hand up to touch Shido’s face.

Shido grinned wickedly, “Didn’t you hear me at dinner? Your actions since you’ve returned warrant a punishment; I don’t think you’re quite understanding how to play nice with the other Travelers.” He reached up and placed a kiss to Saint Dane’s mouth, nipping his lower lip. “So I’m giving you tonight to get ready for me, because I’m not going to go easy on you tomorrow.  _ That _ I can promise you.”

Saint Dane gave a small shudder, “What about tonight though? Maybe a little preview? Come on up to my room.”

Shido pulled out his phone, checked the time, and sighed. “I’m not on vacation  _ yet _ , but perhaps I could stay for a little fun.”

“You know what they say: all work and no play…” Saint Dane grabbed Shido’s hand and immediately began to tug him towards the elevators.

 

The two men were on each other before the hotel door could even click shut, Saint Dane’s mouth descending on Shido’s hungrily. His hands once again found themselves gripping a butt cheek through his suit pants, and pulled the slighter man up against his own body. He craved the closeness and did all he could to be in as much contact as possible with Shido, as if to fill in the silence where the hum of Solara once was with the gasps and moans of the other man.

Saint Dane pushed Shido onto his bed, sending a few black feathers flying. He had forgotten to clean those up before leaving for dinner and hoped Shido wouldn’t notice. 

Unfortunately he did notice, as a small downy feather floated right onto the other man’s nose. He plucked it away with a sneeze and looked at it. “Do I want to know why there’s black feathers all over your bed?” He brought it up to his nose and gave a sniff, “Or why they smell like your blood?” Saint Dane brushed the feather from his fingers and attempted to distract him with another crashing kiss. Shido returned it halfheartedly and pulled away, “What’s going on. What are you hiding?” Then, in a bloodhound-like fashion, he began to sniff Saint Dane. “I can smell the blood on you, but it’s your own.” His nose trailed down his neck and chest, finally pinpointing Saint Dane’s right arm. “What did you do to your arm?”

Saint Dane sat back, “Nothing to worry about, I have a bandage on it. Just a small nick that bled a little. Now, let’s get back to more important things than a little scrape.” Distractingly, he cupped a hand over the bulge in Shido’s pants and gave a small squeeze. “Let’s take care of this, shall we?”

Shido bit his lip and let out a sigh, nodding as he gave in. Saint Dane hummed happily as he pulled down the zipper and freed the hardening member from the confines of his pants and boxers. Shido leaned back on his arms and looked down at Saint Dane as the man started to stroke him in a large hand, rolling his head back in pleasure. He moaned even louder when he felt a hot mouth begin to lap and suck, making him even harder. Shido put a hand on the now-black head of hair that bobbed over his groin, pulling the man off of him after a while. Saint Dane wiped off his mouth and looked up. Shido gave him a lusty grin, “My turn.”

Saint Dane wasn’t about to argue with that, his pants were starting to get too tight, so he obligingly sat where Shido indicated on the bed and the other man got down between his knees, kneeling on the floor. This time he was prepared for the pierced monstrosity that was pulled out from Saint Dane’s underwear, having received quite a shock at all the painful-looking studs and rings the first time he’d seen it. Now Shido eagerly tongued his way up the studded underside and immediately began to swallow down the entire shaft. Saint Dane had never encountered anyone else who could deep throat as well as this man, and he groaned as so many of his wet dreams of the last time were finally made real again. 

It really had been a long time since he’d felt anything other than the touch of his own hand, so when he looked down and met Shido’s gaze--his mouth stretched over his cock, kneeling with legs spread and his other hand furiously stroking himself--Saint Dane came at once. It forced him to close his eyes, but he rode out his orgasm to what he had seen, and felt Shido groan around his penis as he too started to cum.

They flopped bonelessly next to each other on the bed, neither man saying anything, but both comfortable and happy to be back together again. Shido reached over Saint Dane’s head for the tissue box on the bed’s headboard and began to clean himself up, handing a few to Saint Dane as well. 

When they were both finished and tucked away again, Shido made his move. With a movement quicker than Saint Dane’s eye could follow, he had the man pinned down and was yanking the sleeve to his blazer up, only to reveal the medical gauze-wrapped arm, any wounds safely hidden. 

Shido plucked at the edge of the gauze, “What’s under here? You didn’t try to hurt yourself, did you?”

Saint Dane wasn’t able to move his left arm to cover his right one, seeing as how it was pinned to his side by Shido’s leg, so he held the arm close to his chest. “No, Shido, I have no reason to hurt myself. I told you it was just a small scratch.”

“Then why is your entire arm bandaged? Why do I still smell blood from it? You’re a quick healer, I witnessed that last time. What is going on with you?”

Saint Dane growled and struggled to get free, “I don’t need to explain anything to you. I’m fine. I’ll heal.”

“Take off the blazer and the bandage or I’ll rip them both off. I’m ordering you as your Acolyte. Something weird is going on here and I demand to know what it is you’re up to.” Shido ordered.

“Well, I can’t do any of that with you sitting on top of me!” Saint Dane countered and glared. He felt the weight of the detective leave his chest and sat up. Shido sat beside him, waiting, so he grumbled and pulled off his jacket. Carefully he unwound the gauze, hissing when it stuck to some of the spots where the blood from the torn out feathers had dried. He sat there glumly with his deformed arm, the feathers lifting and rustling now that they were free from the confining gauze.

“Well that explains the feathers, but I don’t quite know  _ why _ there are feathers on your arm,” Shido said after a moment of confused silence.

Saint Dane gave a sigh, “I tried to transform last night. It worked on my hair, but when I tried to turn into a raven, a simple transformation I’ve done a million times before, something went wrong and now I’m stuck like this.” He watched as Shido gently touched the inky, black feathers, making them stand on end as his skin shivered.

“When was the last time you successfully transformed into a raven?”

“It hasn’t been since before I died,” he admitted painfully. 

“And you haven’t tried to transform since you’ve been given this new life? Is this your first time trying?”

Saint Dane’s grimace increased at the questioning, it was like asking a man why he couldn’t get an erection, but worse, and it made him feel irritable. “I haven’t needed an excuse to transform since coming back, and last night I was able to successfully transform so I thought I’d try an old favorite, and now I’m stuck like this.”

Shido frowned, thinking. “You’re also not healing like you did before. Did you try pulling these feathers out?” He gently ran a cool finger over the round, red spots where feathers were missing.

“Yeah, but I was making my arm a mess and I had to get ready for dinner.”

“You’re avoiding telling me  _ why _ you’re not healing, Saint Dane.”

“I’m completely cut off from Solara,” he mumbled. He said it under his breath but Shido’s sharp ears caught it.

“You’re saying that like you had been having  _ some _ sort of contact with Solara. That’s where you were… banished from going? Where your power was from?” Shido asked, trying to puzzle out what was happening from the bits and pieces Saint Dane had mentioned weeks ago, and in his journals. 

Saint Dane really had been sending “journals” through the Acolyte ring when he was on Cloral, updating Shido with what he was doing, sometimes bored enough to let a little something slip about his past, sometimes feeling down and lonely and letting even more slip about his past, like his past regrets and shameful plottings. Through these journals Shido was only able to just scratch the surface on who this man was he had agreed to look after, also the man he supposed he could call his lover.

Saint Dane was now slumped over and slowly beginning to curl in on himself, any lingering pleasure dissipated as Shido questioned him in an attempt to figure out what was going on.  He gingerly held his deformed arm in the other, absently brushing the feathers. 

“What did you do when you successfully transformed?”

Saint Dane shrugged, “I had just taken a bath and was looking in the mirror, thinking I stood out too much being so tall and pale-haired. Then I transformed, like I used to be able to, into a Japanese-looking man. I was so shocked I fell, and when I looked back, I was back to normal, just with black hair still.”

Shido stood up and began to pace, picking up the plucked and forgotten feathers from off the floor as he went. “So when you were successful in this impromptu transformation, you decided to try another one?” Saint Dane said nothing but nodded, staring at a spot on the floor. “Is transforming easy? Is that all you have to do is think about it and it works?”

“Pretty much,” Saint Dane said unhelpfully.

“So what were you thinking to become a raven?”

Shido knew he had asked the right question when there was silence. He pressed his lips together into a thin line, stopped his pacing, and looked down on the quiet man. Brushing the loose feathers he had gathered into his hand, he continued, “Okay, want to hear my theory?” No response. “My theory is that you were doing fine until Pendragon arrived. You were used to living this second life, and being on your best behavior was easy. You find an outlet for your violent tendencies and sadistic pleasures through me, and it leaves you feeling like you could take on every world in Halla. You even find out you can make a flume. Things are looking up. Then you make it to Cloral and your plans at helping to rebuild were made moot, they were doing just fine without you. You’re a little bummed to see that any trace you had been there at all has been erased or forgotten, but you stick around and find Spader. You’re unable to shake the boy because you can’t transform so you make it seem intentional, just a nice little trip to Cloral. You come back here to Second Earth and there’s Robert Pendragon, the leader of the Travelers, created to foil your plans and bring you down, which he did quite successfully. The boy who killed you, you who were so much older and more experienced, is again in your life.” Taking a seat again on the bed he took Saint Dane’s chin in his hand and forced the man to look at him, “You felt intimidated and powerless, and your spoken threats could only get you so much leverage. So when you discovered you had the power to transform again, through innocent happenstance, you decided you were going to use it to scare Pendragon, not so innocently though. How am I doing so far?”

Saint Dane narrowed his eyes at Shido, his blue eyes glowing angrily, “Yes, congrats on your brilliant deductions, detective.” He jerked his chin out of the man’s grip but continued to glare at him. “Because of my angry and impure intentions to transform myself, I have been denied any and all contact with Solara, my birthplace, by the way. An energy that has been with me all my life, this one and the last, but has decided to merely be a presence and only just recently give me a taste of the power I once had. Now it’s completely gone.” Saint Dane’s voice was rising but Shido continued to sit calmly on the bed and listen. “I’m stuck with this arm and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so lonely in my life! It’s not fair at all! How dare Solara take it all away from me? How dare they make me weak, injured; a disgusting human!” He spat the last word as if it left a terribly bitter taste in his mouth.

He was taken aback when Shido only smiled. “What the fuck are you smiling at,” he growled. 

Shido only shook his head and encircled his arms around Saint Dane, pulling him towards him in an embrace. Saint Dane shoved, but the arms, while not squeezing tightly, didn’t budge. “Let me go, Shido. I’m not feeling very touchy anymore.”

“No, you let go, Saint Dane,” he said quietly and gently brushed the black hair with his fingers, as if trying to soothe a child. “It’s not bad to be human, but you won’t stay this way forever.”

Saint Dane rolled his eyes but didn’t fight the hug, and rested his cheek against Shido’s chest. “Oh really? I didn’t know seeing the future was among your powers.”

“No, but I see the pattern that’s starting to arise, and I’m surprised you don’t see it, too. You’re too angry. Too scared. You need to relax and put your trust in someone else. I won’t let anyone hurt you while you’re in this state, but it’s not forever.” He pressed a kiss to the top of the head and let him go.

“You care to share with me this ‘pattern’ you’re seeing? Where are you getting this confidence from?” Saint Dane asked but only got a head shake in return. He frowned but stayed leaning on Shido. “Fine, be cryptic. Are you able to fix my arm?”

He didn’t see Shido’s grin, which was was sharp and held a hint of malicious glee in it. “Not tonight,” he replied, “But I think I can help you with it tomorrow night if it’s not better by then.” With a violent ruffle to the dark head of hair before him, he stood up, smiling down as Saint Dane vainly tried to brush it back into place. “If anything, my help in this predicament is entirely selfish.”

Saint Dane cocked an eyebrow questioningly.

“I think you look much sexier with white hair,” he said with a smirk, and left a puzzled Saint Dane to go to work.


	3. Onsen Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean, you gotta have an obligatory onsen episode!

Bobby recognized Yayoi before he even noticed Shido. Yayoi was dressed in a skirt and comfortable knit sweater and stood beside a small, rolling suitcase. He and Spader immediately gave her a hug. “Are you coming to the hot springs?” They asked hopefully. 

She looked at her nails, they seemed to have been recently done, and said in a haughty tone, “Who am I to say no to a little R&R on Shido’s dime?”

“If you had said no I would have thought you to be possessed!” Guni’s voice piped up from behind them, and it was then that they noticed Shido in a dark corner of the lobby. He had efficiently blended into the shadows in a large, dark gray hoodie with the hood pulled over his head. A face mask covered the lower part of his face, not an uncommon sight in Japan, but the rest of him was hidden beneath some sort of clothing, his green eyes and a braided tail of purple hair peeking out from under the hood the only identifier. 

“You feeling alright, mate?” Spader asked concernedly. 

Shido breezily waved a gloved hand. “Just feeling a bit under the weather. I worked late last night. I’ll be fine.”

Bobby laughed, “Are you sure? You look like death warmed over under your emo-boy outfit there.”

Shido rolled his eyes and grumbled, “It was either this or a giant tan coat that made me look like a Hollywood detective from the 50s.”

“He really is doing you a favor,” Guni agreed from inside the hoodie, “It’s a hideous coat.”

Shido quickly changed the subject by asking Bobby if he was okay missing some work. Bobby shrugged, “They seemed to be okay with it, saying I haven't used any PTO yet. If I find myself without a job when we come back I'll just blame Saint Dane and make him get me a better job.”

They all turned at the sound of a small cough and saw Saint Dane standing there, a backpack slung over his shoulder and wearing something other than a blazer. He was much more casual in red chino pants, a hooded brown jacket and a flannel shirt. 

Bobby let out a whistle, “Looks like someone else got aboard the fashion train, check out Saint Dane’s new digs.”

Saint Dane shifted the bag’s strap on his shoulder and shuffled uncomfortably, “I stopped by my apartment last night to pick up a few things.”

“It’s still so weird to hear you say that,” Bobby said with a grimace.

“He’s got a small place on Cloral, too,” Spader chimed in. 

“What? How do you know that?” Bobby asked incredulously, The thought of Spader being in any dwelling with Saint Dane alone made him nauseous.

Spader looked at him oddly, “I know because I did nothing but trail him, remember?”

Saint Dane gave a knowing smirk, “Don’t fret, Pendragon, he never crossed the threshold into my tiny apartment. At least, not to my knowledge,” he added as an afterthought.

“Can we leave for the train station yet?” Guni whined, “This conversation is getting weird and boring. I wanna relax in some hot springs!”

Shido nodded and picked up his own, small, travel bag, slipping on a pair of sunglasses as he made his way to the door.

 

Bobby had never had a chance to ride in a limited express train as nice as this one, at least not in any of his recent memory or in the ones Solara had made up. He didn’t know if Shido felt bad or guilty about Saint Dane, or if he was whipped by Yayoi and Guni, but the man was certainly sparing no expense in this trip and was treating them all very nicely. It was hard to tell, though, if he was happy or not about all this, as the detective was covered head to toe in some sort of clothing or accessory. It was really kind of weird.

Yet Shido silently paid for everyone’s ekiben lunches to be eaten on the hour and a half train ride, dutifully carried Yayoi’s suitcase for her, and even bought a small pastry for Saint Dane, which would have been cute if it had been for someone else. Anyone  _ else, really, _ thought Bobby.

But then he looked over at Spader and smiled, watching his friend who seemed to want to take in everything at once. This was a large train station, even by Japanese standards, and it was always busy, but there were many shops and things on display. Bobby saw Spader eye the over-decorated, strawberry covered sugary affair that Shido was adorably ( _ disgustingly, _ thought Bobby) lifting a forkful to Saint Dane’s mouth. It did look kind of delicious.

“Want to split one with me?” he asked Spader, who wrenched his eyes away from the sight.

“What is it?”

They wandered over to the bakery display case and looked over the selection, gratefully leaving the two lovebirds. There were many other things to choose from, all the sweets were piled high with artistically cut fruits, decorated sugars, dusted with powdered sugars. They almost looked too pretty to eat. 

They decided on a small slice of green tea cake and  _ two _ forks, thank you very much. It was gone in seconds, both of them declaring it as the best cake they’d ever had. 

Yayoi had bought something for herself, yet had it boxed up while she waited patiently for the men to finish with what was breakfast for all of them. Not a very healthy breakfast, but certainly a delicious one. Bobby figured Yayoi had bought something for Guni to eat later so that she didn’t miss out. The poor imp was currently trapped in the detective’s hoodie, forced to watch the disgustingly sweet PDA and no food of her own. 

The train was a popular choice for a nonstop and comfortable ride to Hakone from Shinjuku. Large windows allowed for the riders to enjoy some sightseeing as they were whisked away from the city and into the mountainous area most famous for its natural hot springs.

At least, that’s how it was for Bobby, Spader, and Yayoi, who sat in four seats that faced each other, right next to the large, spacious window. Saint Dane took a window seat across the aisle from them, and Shido, looking exhausted, put down the food tray and immediately buried his face into his arms. With his hood up and head down he looked like a pouting, rebellious teenager trying to ignore the world around him.

Spader was also staring at the unmoving, dark lump that sat next to an unconcerned Saint Dane. “Is he okay?” he asked Yayoi, who had opened up her newspaper she had bought before they boarded. 

Yayoi didn’t even glance at Shido, “Oh he’s fine. He worked all night and isn’t much of a morning person. Or a daylight person in general. He just needs some sleep.”

Guni, who must have migrated over into Yayoi’s long hair, peeked out and snickered at the sight. “Ugh, he’s so pathetic!”

Spader and Bobby looked at each other and shrugged. His work partner didn’t seem worried, so they decided not to worry as well and enjoy the ride.

It really was an awesome ride, and Spader could barely pry himself away from the window to eat his bento, fascinated with this very different view of Second Earth. The city they drove through was huge, but it soon gave way to flat land ribboned with rivers and canals. Long stretches of fields were peppered with small towns and communities.

Yayoi nudged them and pointed out their window to a large, blue shape in the distance. “It’s a clear day out today, so you can see Mount Fuji. We should take the tour boat when we get to Hakone, hopefully it’ll still be out!”

Spader was fascinated, never having been far enough outside of New York to see any mountains here on Second Earth, though he had seen them in the other worlds, but the excitement of the other passengers at seeing this iconic mountain made it seem more special. Bobby explained to him how it was actually a volcano, and then had to describe what a volcano was and how they rose up out of the oceans and slowly created land. Spader looked on in reverent awe, wondering if anything like that would ever create land on Cloral.

After they arrived at the Hakone station, and took a bus up the winding, narrow, mountain roads to their ryokan, the group checked into their rooms. The place was a traditional inn, complete with sliding doors covered in paper, a place to store your shoes, and yukatas that sat folded on top of fluffy futons for when they were ready to hit the hot springs. Bobby and Spader shared a room at the end of a long hallway, two doors down Yayoi had her own small room. Near the opposite end of the hall was Shido and Saint Dane’s room, where the two men went in, and only Saint Dane emerged. 

He crossed his arms as he waited for the two Travelers to lock up their room. “Shido’s going to get some sleep, and I’ve been ordered to babysit you two.”

“More like  _ I’m _ the one who’s going to end up having to babysit all of you,” Yayoi countered as she came out of her own room and slid the door shut. She had on a sun hat and a camera, ready to enjoy an afternoon of sightseeing.

Saint Dane held up three fingers in a scout salute, “On my honor I will do my best to stay out of trouble and be kind.”

“How about you just stick to the boy scout oath and we’ll have no problems here,” Bobby said sarcastically. He closed his eyes and also saluted, reciting, “ On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”

The door beside them immediately cracked open as Shido poked his head out, grinning. “Yes! That’s it! That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell him!” He whipped his head to Saint Dane, “Get  _ that _ tattooed onto you, and maybe it’ll sink in!” He then slid the door shut once more but said a muffled goodbye. “Go have fun, stay out of trouble, and I’ll be awake when you come back.” 

Guni chuckled, “No worries, Yayoi’s got her gun!”

“Come on you little scouts, let’s go on an adventure!” She tugged at Saint Dane’s collar as she walked to the front of the group, “You too, cub scout.”

 

The afternoon was actually quite pleasant. The mountains of Hakone, and the breeze that came off Lake Ashi, were cold and brisk, promising a cold winter ahead, even though it was only October, but the sun kept everyone warm under their jackets.

As Yayoi had promised, they took a tour boat across the lake, again catching spectacular glimpses of Mount Fuji. Spader was introduced to his first major Shrine, which they hiked to after disembarking from the boat. Saint Dane even took the time to explain a little bit about what he knew about Shintoism and their relationship with nature.

“It’s really comforting,” Spader reflected as they stopped at the top of the stairs to gaze around at the main Shrine. “I didn’t know that some of the people here on Second Earth were so in tune with Solara.” He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, taking in the sounds of the water running in a nearby fountain, the trees rustling overhead, the lake lapping at the shore below them, and the soft, reverent murmur of the tourists around him. “You can feel the energy that flows through here, and it’s almost a little bit like Solara, isn’t it Bobby?”

Bobby closed his own eyes and nodded, he too could feel the energetic hum of life and the appreciation for it all around him. He kept his eyes closed but spoke in Saint Dane’s direction. “Take note of it, Saint Dane. This is Solara at its purist. Untainted by hate or anger, but made stronger through peace and awe.”

Saint Dane restrained a scoff, but grunted in affirmation, doing his best to hide his discomfort and dismay at not feeling a thing.

 

They got back to the ryokan right as the sun was beginning to set. The rest of the day had been fun, to Bobby’s great surprise, and even Saint Dane, who had been pretty quiet, seemed to be enjoying it. Yet he was anxious to get back to Shido who was surely awake by now. So he broke away from the group as they went to go eat at a restaurant for dinner, claiming he wanted to go check on Shido. Which was true, and Yayoi waved him off, telling him to not get lost or kill anyone on his way back. All this she said with a smile and a knowing glint in her eye.

Shido was awake and waiting when Saint Dane slowly opened the door to their room and peeked inside. He had made himself comfortable on his futon, dressed in the yukata, while watching the television. Saint Dane licked his lips as he stood there and gazed at the pale, smooth skin that was currently exposed by the short garment. He watched as Shido tugged at the hem absently, focused on the tv, his motion drawing Saint Dane’s eye down to the long legs that led up into the yukata.

“Are you going to keep standing there staring, or are you going to come in and do something about it?”

Saint Dane started and blinked, looking back up to Shido’s face, where his green eyes sparkled mischievously. He ran a finger down the bit of his chest that showed through the V shape of the robe’s collar and tapped his heart. “I could hear your heart thrumming the moment you got back.”

Fully entering the room, Saint Dane hastily shut the door behind him and immediately started to shrug off his jacket. He grinned down at Shido who languidly watched from his futon, joining him when his jacket and shirt were quickly divested. 

Shido sat up and snuggled himself down into Saint Dane’s lap, feeling his warm chest against his back. He brought the man’s bandaged arm around and began to slowly unwind the gauze, again revealing the arm still covered in raven feathers.

“So, you mentioned being able to fix my arm?” Saint Dane said as he propped his chin onto the top of Shido’s head, watching as his arm was touched and examined. He felt Shido nod, dismayed when the man scooted away from his lap and stood up. A flash of thigh and a butt cheek made Saint Dane grin wickedly, and he rubbed his hand up the pale leg, only to be swatted away.

Shido winked and tsked, “Ah ah, not yet. I have to get you ready first. Remove  _ your _ clothing while I go get some things.”

Saint Dane grinned and immediately did as he was told. “What are you getting? Sexy things, or something to help my arm?”

“Both,” came the simple reply as Shido rummaged through his small bag. When he returned both of his hands were closed around something small and hidden, which he easily hid among the folds of his futon. He cocked an eyebrow at Saint Dane who had followed his orders and stood there naked. 

“What?” He asked self consciously at Shido's expression.

“Your transformations are very thorough, aren't they?” He reached out a hand and lightly traced a thumb over his eyebrows, then trailed his hand down, down, making ab muscles jump, following the line of hair that was now black, and ending in curls the same shade. They too had changed from white to black.

Saint Dane shuddered and grinned, “I can be very thorough about many things.” He pressed his face close and breathed into Shido's ear. “I'm very slow, very methodical, and very, very, thorough.” A sharp pinch of pain immediately made him straighten up with a jolt. “Ow!”

Shido held up and twirled a black feather in his fingers. “Would you like me to be slow, methodical and thorough about this?” He teased and brushed the feather down Saint Dane's face, distracting him long enough to pluck out another large feather.

“Ow! Would you stop? Ow!! Stop!!” Saint Dane flinched away and attempted to hide his arm behind his back. 

Shido tsked and shook his head, “No way, you asked me for help. Besides, I thought you enjoyed pain.” He crouched like a tiger and then launched himself at Saint Dane, making them both tumble to the tatami matted floor. Once again pinning Saint Dane successfully beneath him he grabbed the arm but didn’t remove any more feathers.

Saint Dane glared up at him, “Well, yes, but there’s nothing very sexually pleasing about having feathers ripped out of your arm. It would be like me pulling hair from your head and asking you to get off on that!”

“Then I suppose this really will be a punishment then.”

“Punishment for what?”

Shido sat back and crossed his arms, “Really? With your behavior? Intimidating the lead Traveler? Trying to transform for the wrong reasons? That’s why you’re stuck. Solara seems to know when you’re going to use it for good or bad and has put a stop to it. If you’re lucky, it’s only temporary, but you’ve got to learn from your mistakes.”

Saint Dane sat in a contemplative silence. It was broken when another feather was painfully plucked, bringing him back to the present. “Fine! You might have a point,” he admitted with a grumble.

“Of course I do, now give me your arm and I want you to think of as many names as possible of the people who have died because of you in the past.” 

“Died, or killed with my own hands?” Saint Dane winced, “At least that list is a little shorter.”

Shido clenched at a cluster of small, downy feathers and wrenched them away, making Saint Dane wail. “It doesn’t matter if you killed them with your own hands or not, a life was snuffed out because of  _ you _ . Each one had their own family, their own future they were working towards, and now all that is gone!  Plucked out of existence as easily as I’m about to pluck these feathers out of you.  _ I’m _ not the one feeling any pain, but you’re going to feel each and every one. Now start naming names,” Shido growled.

The man on top of Saint Dane was angry, and very good at keeping a man pinned down with incredible strength. He sighed in resignation, he had to get rid of the feathers somehow, and supposed he deserved a lot more than just having his arm riddled with little holes. Looking away he resentfully started on the first name, “Nevva Winter…” Wince. “Benn Spader…” A startled pause and then a yelp. “Press Tilton…”

No, this was certainly not the kind of pain Saint Dane enjoyed as each feather was like pulling large hairs from his arm. He was afraid he was going to run out of remembered names, but it seemed his mind was doing a great job dredging up memory after memory of people he remembered standing in the way of his mission. 

As soon as it was done, Saint Dane closed his eyes and turned his head, not wanting Shido to see the tears that formed there.  _ It’s just from your arm, it was like plucking a nose hair, that’s why _ , Saint Dane reasoned. He felt his arm, burning from the pain of torn skin, being gently lifted and something warm and wet wiping over it. Blinking rapidly, he looked up, and saw Shido holding it up to his mouth, gently licking away the blood. His arm was a mess and would remain so for a normal, mortal amount of time, thanks to Solara taking away his fast healing.

“I see,” Saint Dane joked, “You did this just to score some blood.”

Shido gazed at him affectionately. “I mean, it’s an added bonus for me, but I’ll be especially grateful if I never have to do this again to you, though.” He went back to cleaning up the wounded arm.

“So, do you still want to be with me? After hearing all that?” Saint Dane asked quietly after watching the other for a silent minute.

Shido paused, put down the arm, and brought himself close to Saint Dane’s face. He thought he was going to kiss him, but he just brought the two of them nose to nose. “I do, but I only want to be with Saint Dane, the Traveler that was born again here on Second Earth. I don’t want Saint Dane the villain, or the Demon of Halla. I want the one  _ I _ know, and I want Robert Pendragon to know that man exists too.”

“You want me to have kinky sex with Pendragon?” Saint Dane said with mock disgust and got a playful smack to his shoulder.

“No! Not  _ that _ side of Saint Dane. That’s one I’m happy to keep all to myself. But I would like you to open up to him and share that you really want to try and change.”

“You know he’d never believe that in a million years.”

Shido shrugged, “Yes, I know, but actions speak louder than words, and I’m here to help.”

“I’ll always be who I am. With me you’ve got the good with the bad; Saint Dane the villain is a part of me. But I suppose, so is Saint Dane, the guardian of Solara, who started out with good intentions. Are you still willing to believe in me?”

Shido nodded, bumping their noses together, “I am. I believe you’re capable of many great things, but you don’t have to go through this second life alone.” He pressed a tender kiss to Saint Dane’s lips, his own tasting faintly of blood. 

Saint Dane returned the kiss deeply, holding tight to the back of Shido’s head with his wounded arm so the man couldn’t escape the liplock, or see the tears that were escaping the corners of Saint Dane’s eyes.

They finally let go, one of them needing to suck in much needed air with a gasp. Shido let Saint Dane sit up as he searched his futon for the items he had brought with him. Taking the hurt right arm once more he gave it one last clean up.

“So, I believe I promised you a little ‘fun’ on this romantic getaway?” Shido asked and fiddled with something in his hand.

Saint Dane laughed, “That wasn’t the fun part? Thank god, I was starting to think you had gone completely sadistic on me.” He tried to peer into Shido’s fidgeting hands. “What do you have in mind?”

“Close your eyes, it’s a surprise,” Shido ordered and took Saint Dane’s hands into his own. He waited patiently until the curious blue eyes slid shut, and then he took the zip tie from out of his hand and immediately secured together the two hands he held in front of him.

Saint Dane opened his eyes as he felt his hands become bound together in plastic and frowned. “Hey! I had my hands bound last time, isn’t it your turn?”

Shido gripped the hands and brought them down to his groin, rubbing up against them and purred, “This is still part of your punishment, albeit the better part. I’m in total control tonight.” He balanced himself with one hand on Saint Dane’s shoulder and continued to use his other hand to guide Saint Dane’s hands to touch him between his legs. “Mmm, you’ll touch me where I tell you and beg me to touch you.”

Saint Dane grinned and massaged Shido through his yukata, “What makes you so confident that I’ll be begging?” He gasped as he felt Shido’s hand leave his and touch his own, stirring cock, quickly and dexterously slipping something tight around the base of his penis and balls. Looking down in surprise he saw that Shido had snugly nestled a stretchy, red, cock ring around him.

Shido’s eyes flashed yellow and his grin was sharp and wicked. “Oh, you’ll be begging me. Begging me to let you cum.”

 

Bobby carefully stepped out of his shoes and placed them in a cubby right inside of the ryokan’s entrance. He had walked down to the nearest convenience store to buy some snacks and drinks for tonight. Not that he was hungry yet. He, Spader, Yayoi and Guni had found a nearby Italian restaurant and had gorged themselves on some really delicious pastas.

Then they had all (save Guni) waddled back to the inn to get ready for a nice, long soak in the hot springs. Spader had gone to their room to get undressed and into his yukata while Bobby had decided to get them drinks. He had brought back a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic choices for the two of them to try.

He twirled the thin plastic bag and made his way down the hall but stopped when he thought he heard his name. There were some noises and muffled mutterings coming from Saint Dane's room. 

_ What is that freak up to now? _ He thought and quietly tiptoed up to their door. He couldn't make heads nor tails of what he was hearing so he silently inched the sliding door open a crack. 

What his eyes saw his brain could not process. It _ looked  _ like Shido had Saint Dane handcuffed with a zip tie and on the floor with his ass in the air, Shido behind him and thrusting roughly into the demon. His hand was clenched tightly into the black hair, forcing Saint Dane's head back and Bobby saw an expression that could have been pleasure or just as easily be anguish. Both men were very naked. His eyes took in this site but his brain rejected the idea of Saint Dane ever being in a position like this.

Something that sounded like begging slipped from Saint Dane's slack mouth. “F-fuck Shido, please let me cum already!” He panted heavily, scrunching his eyes shut in what seemed like pain. Shido merely continued to ruthlessly thrust into the same spot inside him, making Saint Dane bite back a howl. Instead a low keening sound escaped. 

“Not until, unh, I hear it,” Shido grunted back and paused. “Tell me why you...hn-why you deserve this punishment.”

Saint Dane physically writhed with an unfulfilled need for release. He yelped as his hair was roughly tugged at, forcing his head back at an uncomfortable angle. “Fine! Fine! I promise to be good!” He repeated, trying to quickly get the words out.  “My second chance is to keep the peace not disturb it!!” Bobby barely recognized the man's voice it was so distorted by lust and pleading, coming out as a strained, high whine.

Bobby couldn't watch this surreal spectacle any longer. He slowly backed away from the door and scrambled back to his room where he found Spader dressed and ready for the hot springs. He caught him playing with the TV remote, trying to change the channels.

Spader knew instantly that something was wrong, the whites of Bobby's eyes were showing, and he was pale and sweating.

“Pendragon, what's the matter? You look like you just outran a quig!”

Bobby's mouth was open but no sound came out, he could only shake his head. He lunged forward and grabbed Spader's hand, finally squeaking out, “I-I I don't know… something is happening. You just have to see!”

Spader mimicked Bobby as he started tiptoeing down the hallway, stopping at Saint Dane's room and putting a finger to his lips. They could already hear the sound of moaning and a rhythmic slapping sound. Spader looked through the cracked open door while Bobby did the same above him and the two stared in shared, shocked silence at the two men inside.

Shido must have released Saint Dane from his bindings after hearing what he wanted to hear, but was still on top and snapping his hips forward quickly in between Saint Dane's legs, clamped and locked at his lover's back. Shido's face was buried in Saint Dane's neck.

Saint Dane was shuddering but held the other man close, riding out what had been a very intense and prolonged orgasm. His right arm was bleeding, looking like a torn mess, and there were scratches down his leg.

Shido wasn't far behind and he threw back his head as he came, moaning loudly.

What Spader and Bobby noticed instantly were the fangs, long, pointed, and very noticeable in Shido's gaping mouth. Blood ran down his chin, drawing their eyes to the red bite marks on Saint Dane's neck.

Bobby almost took them both down in a tumble as he threw himself away from the door in fright. Spader turned to catch him before he fell and they both stared at each other, wide-eyed and scared.  Together, they turned to escape back to their room as quickly and as quietly as they could. Bobby could only imagine what might happen to them if they were caught spying!

They were almost safe inside their room when hands on both their collars tugged them backwards. Spader cried out and Bobby almost tripped again, but the hands dragged them into a room and slid the door shut; Bobby was too terrified to even notice the room they were pulled into.

“It seems our new friends here are Peeping Toms,” came Yayoi’s voice and Bobby almost sobbed in relief.

He turned to see Yayoi in her yukata with arms crossed and a serious look on her face. Guni mirrored her as she fluttered near her shoulder.

“No! Yayoi! It’s not that, I was walking down the hall and I thought I heard my name, and then I thought I heard fighting, so I had to look in to make sure Saint Dane wasn’t up to something, but he wasn’t! He… he and Shido were...and I couldn’t! I just didn’t know what to… So I showed Spader because it was so weird, you know? And when we looked back Shido was, like,  _ biting _ Saint Dane! And there was blood, and scratches and- _ your partner is a vampire!! _ ” Bobby finished his confused, rambling story with a crazed and desperate whisper.

Spader was nodding, also pale and shaking at this point, but stopped. “Hey, wait, what’s a vampire?”

Yayoi looked at Guni and the two burst into peals of laughter. Politely, Yayoi tried to hide hers behind a hand, but Guni fell from where she hovered to continue laughing loudly on the ground.

The boys could only stare in confusion as the women laughed at them. “You knew?” Bobby asked.

Wiping her eyes, Yayoi nodded and did her best to calm down. “Of course I knew! I’ve worked with him for most of my life! I even used to be his blood donor.”

“Why does he need a blood donor? What’s going on?” Spader asked, still in the dark about most of what he just saw.

“Here on Second Earth we have stories, made up stories, about scary monsters. Like mummies, Frankenstein, and vampires,” Bobby explained. “Vampires are supposed to be undead creatures that can only come out at night and live by drinking the blood of humans. We’ve had scary books and movies made about them but they’re  _ not _ supposed to be real!”

Guni laughed, “Well, news flash, they are! Really, how are you so surprised? You’ve already met me! How is learning that vampires are real that big of a stretch?”

“I don’t know Guni! I kinda had to accept these things as they were being thrown at me that day! I was still reeling from learning that Saint Dane is still alive, that was a much bigger threat than learning flying blue imps lived in people's’ hair!” Bobby said exasperatedly. 

Spader was looking curiously at Yayoi, “You said you were his blood donor? Do people not die from vampires?” Bobby also looked to her with interest.

She pulled down her collar to show two, small, round dots that were scars on her neck. “The good vampires don’t need to kill, but they do need blood to survive. Thankfully, Shido never takes what isn’t offered to him.”

“So Saint Dane...offered to be a blood donor?” Spader asked timidly. That was an image that didn’t quite match up with what they knew about the demon.

“Yup!” Guni said proudly, fluttering in the air once more, “And I set them up on a date! I knew it would work!”

Yayoi plucked Guni from the air and held onto her, then addressed the boys, “Don’t worry about Shido. He’s still the same detective you know. What goes on between him and Saint Dane in the bedroom is none of your business; Saint Dane isn’t going to try and take over the world from in there. And Shido is a good man, he’s determined to keep his new blood donor in check and the two have a… unique agreement.” Yayoi began to hustle them from out of her room. “Now, I’m going to go soak in the hot springs and relax my tired feet. I suggest you two go and do the same, but use the men’s side please. And don’t forget to wash up before soaking!”

There were still so many questions Bobby wanted to ask, and Spader looked as if his mind had completely fried from the overload of information, but Yayoi had effectively swept them back into the hallway and locked her door behind her, carrying a towel and Guni. She gave them a wink and then left them there with their questions.

 

Shido didn’t want to move, and he heaved a great big sigh of happiness as he lay bonelessly on top of Saint Dane. He felt a hand touch his hair and begin to comb the long, purple locks, and he smiled sleepily.

“Are you happy now, Mr. Purplevamp?” Saint Dane murmured from underneath the warming body and felt a happy wriggle in response. “Yeah, I thought so.” He lay there feeling more at peace than he had in a long time and pleasantly worn out. He tapped Shido’s shoulder, “Okay, my legs are falling asleep, time to get up.”

Shido groaned, “But  _ I’m _ comfortable, and so nice and warm.”

“Yeah, and sticky. We need to wash up, and maybe go soak in the hot springs,” suggested Saint Dane, giving the vampire another nudge. “Come on you overfed tick!”

Shido scoffed and lifted himself up on his arms, “Overfed  _ tick _ am I? I barely took more than a few swallows of blood!”

Saint Dane continued to tease, “Okay, fine, how about a big old mosquito? I keep hearing this annoying whining sound.” He made his voice go high and whiny, “Buzz buzz! Saint Dane be good! Saint Dane, don’t kill people! Saint Dane, be nice to the Travelers!” Looking into Shido’s green eyes he grinned. “And then the mosquito goes and drinks my blood and leaves me with an aching arse!” 

Shido closed his eyes and turned his head in a snub, “Oh, is that how you see it? Well, I guess I won’t give you your present then!” He cracked one eye open and looked down to see his partner’s reaction.

A flash of genuine surprise did fill Saint Dane’s eyes, but it was quickly hidden with a mock expression of unconcern. “Oh, well, I wouldn’t be able to open it anyway as I still can’t move.”

Shido rolled his eyes and rolled off of Saint Dane as well, finally complying. Their skin stuck together unpleasantly and he grimaced when they parted. Standing up he extended a hand down to help up Saint Dane. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up first, then we’ll see about that present.”

Shido hummed as he soaked a washrag in the small sink of their bathroom. They didn’t get a full tub or shower as the ryokan provided those outside the hot springs. Saint Dane’s blood was rushing through his veins, making him feel better than he had in weeks. Even if Saint Dane was feeling cut off from Solara, his blood still packed a powerful punch and tasted more than human. The effect it had on Shido was like a shot of espresso, and his senses all tingled with power. He finished wiping himself off and was re-wetting the rag when Saint Dane plodded into the bathroom.

Shido eyed him, concerned that the man looked a little pale, and hoped he hadn’t taken too much blood. Turning, he gave him a kiss, “We’ll get you something to drink before we go soak, you’re looking pale.” Shido handed him the washrag and frowned at the other’s strange look, “Dane? You okay?”

Saint Dane nodded slowly, “Yeah. I think…” He trailed off and closed his eyes, and Shido was afraid Saint Dane was going to faint on him, so he placed his hands on his shoulders to keep him steady. He nearly jumped back when Saint Dane’s hair suddenly blinked from black back to white.

Saint Dane opened his eyes and looked into the sink’s mirror, grinning. “Looks like I got my mojo back,” he said gleefully. 

His grin was infectious and Shido beamed, “It’s back! And Solara?”

“I realized I was feeling its presence again while we were laying there.”

Shido gave him a hug and immediately grabbed the injured right arm, only fading scars were left on the arm, the night’s bite marks almost gone, too. “And you’re healing quickly again too!”

Saint Dane blushed and took Shido’s hands, “It’s hard to admit it when I’m wrong, but I think you were right about why I was cut off from Solara. I was given my powers back and immediately used them selfishly, I can’t be trusted with even the smallest bit of power. I was already making some of the same mistakes that lead me to my previous life’s… bad intentions.”

“Yes, but it looks like Solara is giving you more chances,” Shido said hopefully. “You don’t know when it will be your last, maybe this one  _ is _ your last chance, and you should probably treat it like it is. Don’t rely on your power. Humanity doesn’t need to change, it just needs a little protection sometimes.”

“Okay, my little Boy Scout,” Saint Dane said and poked the tip of Shido’s nose.

“I think this definitely calls for your present now!” He left the man to clean up and went to search through his bag, returning with a beautifully wrapped package which he handed to Saint Dane.

“I figured you might need this for our stay here.” Saint Dane looked down at the package dumbly, Shido biting a nail anxiously and waved an impatient hand, “Go on, open it! It won’t bite!”

“I-I don’t think I’ve ever been given a gift before…” Saint Dane admitted softly and Shido’s heart nearly broke.

“Well shit, no wonder you became evil!”

Saint Dane barked out a laugh, grateful for the joke because his throat had been tight and his eyes prickled. Shaking his head he carefully opened the wrapping, and pulled out a beautiful, dark blue yukata with simple designs in white and light blue, and a matching obi.

“I got it specially made for you, since there’s no way you’ll find a yukata for someone of your height,” Shido explained shyly. He took it from the frozen fingers that held the gift out like he was unsure of what to do next. Slinging the obi over one shoulder, Shido shook out the yukata and draped it over wide, tan shoulders. He made a small noise that seemed to finally snap Saint Dane into the present.

“What? Something wrong?”

Shido shook his head, “Your tattoo, we'll have to cover it up somehow for the onsen. I don't think they allow tattoos here.”

Saint Dane took over dressing himself and gave a sly smirk. “I can fix that,” he replied and Shido blinked when the tattoo shimmered away. 

“Your powers aren't even back for more than ten minutes and you've used them twice.” Shido warned as he helped tie the sash.

Holding up two fingers, Saint Dane counted on them, “One: a tattoo cover up so I can join you in an onsen and not incite a panic that I'm part of the yakuza. Two: I was told by my boyfriend he thinks I look hotter with white hair.” He smirked, “Think the Boy Scout council will approve of those?”

Shido stood on his tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek, “Congratulations, you have earned the merit badge: Vanity For The Sake Of Others.” He stepped back and eyed the yukata. “Now give a twirl, let's see how it looks.”

Saint Dane complied, happy to show off and Shido beamed. “Perfect! You look really good in that.”

“I look really good out of it, too.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“Now you can live the comfortable Japanese lifestyle of a man lounging in his yukata and not be flashing everyone because it's too small.” Shido commented as he put on his own yukata, the one provided by the ryokan. He felt arms enclose around him and leaned back into the hug.

“Thank you,” Saint Dane murmured into his ear, “For so many things.”

Shido smiled and closed his eyes, taking comfort in the warmth and the sound of a strong heartbeat that fluttered quickly sometimes, just for him.

 

“I mean, it feels great, but are you able to relax?” Bobby asked as he opened one eye and looked to see how Spader was faring.

Spader shrugged from where he sat and swished his hand through the hot water of the onsen. “I think I’d be able to relax better if I hadn’t just seen… whatever it was we just saw.”

“Think we can trust Yayoi? She said he’s harmless.”

“No, she said he doesn’t take what’s not offered to him. Doesn’t mean he’s harmless.” Spader reminded him.

“I just can’t imagine Saint Dane agreeing to  _ anything _ we just saw.” Bobby frowned as his mind replayed what they witnessed in an infuriating loop. He sighed and leaned his head back, sinking into the water so that it went up to his chin, wishing he could let the water wash away the thoughts in his mind.

“Hm,” Spader made a small noise and Bobby sat up to look at him.

“What?” The face Spader was making was odd, and he didn’t know if it was fear or revulsion, or a mix between the two. “What’s wrong?”

Spader looked at him wide-eyed, “What if Saint Dane agreed to everything because he  _ wants _ it? He wants Shido to do...that to him. He wants to have a moral compass.  _ He wants to try and be good _ ?”

“That’s not Saint Dane, though,” Bobby countered, “That’s him acting, playing a role to get what he wants, and doing a bad job at it if he thinks it's fooling anyone.”

Spader shook his head, “No, bear with me mate. What if  _ Saint Dane is in love?! _ ”

Bobby stared at his friend and then began to laugh. “No way man! That would not happen in a billion years! Does that creature even have a heart?”

With a shrug, Spader went back to watching his hand twirl through the water, wishing it was deep enough to swim in, and gave his friend time to process what he had said. “He’s had a physical body for a while now, and before that he was a guardian spirit of Solara. We kinda experienced all that in reverse, created as physical beings and then returned to Solara as spirits once our job was done.” Spader’s cheeks grew warm and he hoped the warmth of the onsen hid his blush. “Remember when we were in our hotel room and I said ‘You can’t kiss on Solara’?”

Bobby nodded, watching his friend but Spader continued to look down into the water, rather than at him. “I missed all this, Bobby. I missed  _ feeling _ things. Swimming through water, eating good food, even… even the feel of another human.” Spader finally looked up at Bobby, their gaze meeting from across the pool, and there was something in the dark, almond-shaped eyes that took Bobby’s breath away. It almost looked like loneliness, and it resonated with something inside his own heart.

This time it was Bobby who looked away, giving his heart a moment to slow down, and he looked up at the stars. “So you think Saint Dane is lonely and wants a physical relationship?” he summarized.

Spader leaned back to stargaze as well, “You didn’t see him on Cloral, Bobby. It was like he didn’t know what to do with himself. He was so… tame. And he always had this look in his eye like he was longing for something. Or someone.”

“If we were talking about anyone else, I might agree with you, but this is Saint Dane. The man who doesn’t think twice about killing people who get in his way, or plunging entire worlds into chaos and sitting back as everyone fights and kills each other. You need a heart to fall in love.”

Spader was quiet and then said softly, “I know, mate, but he’s more human now than he’s ever been before, maybe that’s making him feel vulnerable.”

The two men practically jumped out of their skins, Spader even giving a small shriek, when the doors that lead out to the onsen slid open.

Saint Dane peered at them and made an apologetic face, “Ooops, sorry. Thought the spring was empty.”

Bobby looked at Spader and the two shared a silent conversation with wide eyes and shoulder shrugs as Saint Dane sat on a stool under one of the showers and began to wash himself off. They were just about to stand up in the spring when the door opened again and Shido stepped through.

“Oh! I was wondering who Saint Dane was talking to. Enjoying the hot springs?” He asked and also began to shower.

“Uh… Yeah, it’s great,” Bobby stammered. “S-Spader and I were just about to get out, actually.” He looked to Spader and jerked his head in the direction of the exit, but Spader shook his head. Bobby glared at him and turned around to the steps only to find Saint Dane standing there, uncomfortably close, and uncomfortably nude.

“Don’t leave on account of us, Pendragon. We won’t bother you,” he said as he twisted his hair up into a ponytail, not even concerned with trying to cover himself. Both boys blushed brightly but only Bobby turned away. Spader gaped at the amount of piercings that glittered from the most sensitive of places on the demon’s body, until Saint Dane descended the last step into the water and was made decent. He swam to a spot around the edge and settled comfortably down into the hot water near a trickling waterfall.

Shido, a bit more modestly as he held a small towel in front of him, joined them as well, his hair twisted up into a bun. As he settled he looked to Spader who had joined Bobby on the other side of the spring. “Oh, Spader, you’re supposed to have your hair up out of the water. I have an extra elastic, want me to put it up for you?”

Without waiting for an answer he swam over and Spader quickly leapt away, slapping a hand to his neck. “No! Don’t touch me!”

Shido halted and stared at him confusedly. “Okay, I won’t.” He backed away slowly and returned to the other side of the onsen.

Saint Dane chuckled by his side, “Oh ho, looks like the secret’s out, Shido. He thinks you’re going to go after his pretty little neck!”

Spader dropped his protective hand and looked away, “I dunno what you’re talkin’ about.”

All was quiet for a moment until Shido stood up, “Come on, Saint Dane, let’s leave them to their soak. We can come back later.”

“No, we were just-”

“Augh, Sheeds, we just got here-”

“No, no, we’ll go-”

Everyone talked all at once, and immediately went silent once again, staring at each other and feeling very vulnerable. Except Saint Dane who had closed his eyes and was having no qualms at all staying in his spot. 

Shido glared at him and rubbed his arm, settling back down into the water but not making any eye contact.  “Sorry, you can leave, but don’t be frightened. I won’t hurt you.”

“Yeah, he takes it all out on me,” Saint Dane muttered sarcastically.

Spader also returned to his spot and he and Bobby sank down into the water, their heads remaining vulnerable above the hot waters, looking like two nervous seals waiting for the polar bears to make their move.

“Yayoi said you’re a vampire.” Bobby was the first to speak, breaking the silence. Shido nodded. “She said you were good, though.”

“Sickeningly so,” Saint Dane once again piped up but got a swat on the arm by Shido.

“Quiet, they won’t believe anything if it comes from you,” he warned but still did not make eye contact with the two frightened men across from them. Instead, Shido moved his knees up to his chest and lay his head on pale, knobby kneecaps that stuck up from the dark water. He took a deep breath, “Yes, I’m a vampire, and if you want to leave tonight I will personally pay for a taxi ride that will take you two back into Tokyo. But you shouldn’t worry, I don’t hurt humans, I’ve made a vow to never harm a human.”

“Yeah, that’s great and all, but what about the guy next to you?” Bobby asked icily. “He definitely hasn’t made a vow like that.”

Shido chuckled, “Maybe he has.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe that?” Bobby scoffed. “Ever hear that fable about the scorpion and the frog? The scorpion wants to cross a river so he convinces a wary frog to let him ride on his back. The frog’s like, ‘Yeah right, you’ll sting me’ but the scorpion points out that he wouldn’t do that because they’d both drown. So they’re halfway across the river when the scorpion, while on the frog’s back, stings him, and as they’re both drowning the frog asks ‘Why?’ and the scorpion says, ‘It’s just my nature’. Now tell me Mr. Shido, who in this story is the frog and who is the scorpion?”

All was quiet for a moment before Shido gave a chuckle, “I don’t know if I’m really a frog, maybe more like...an owl? Yeah, those eat scorpions, right? Either way, I’m not as helpless as the frog, and I can just turn around and eat the scorpion if he stings me, and he knows this because I constantly remind him.”

Bobby looked pale, “You constantly remind Saint Dane that you’ll eat him?” He had an unwanted flashback to the scene he had witnessed previously with Shido feasting on blood, and he gulped.

“No!” Shido said quickly, “I mean... I do drink his blood, but that’s only because he lets me!” The boy’s faces paled even more as he desperately scrambled to find the right words. “Argh, Saint Dane, help me out here!”

Saint Dane grinned lazily over at him, “No way, this is amusing watching you try and explain our relationship. So far what I’ve gotten out of it is you’re a blood sucking owl that’s been charged with teaching a scorpion not to sting others, and you remind the scorpion daily he’ll be lunch if he stings anyone.”

Shido paused, “I guess that’s not entirely inaccurate.”

By now, Spader was thoroughly confused as to what a vampire was. He was an owl that drank blood? He hadn’t looked like an owl. Maybe he could transform like Saint Dane? He nervously raised a hand which got Shido’s attention, giving him a nod to speak. Spader coughed, “We don’t really have vampires or owls on Cloral, so what exactly  _ is _ a vampire?”

Shido’s shoulders sagged in relief, “ _ Thank you _ Spader! Yes, let’s get away from analogies and get back to the basics. So, a vampire is a human that has been turned into a creature of the night that can only subsist on blood. We can’t walk in direct sunlight, but our bodies die when we get turned into a vampire, so we’re basically immortal if we stay away from sunlight, wooden stakes, and beheadings.”

This explanation didn’t really clear things up too much for Spader and he made a face. “Wait, so people  _ turn _ into vampires?! You’re not born as one? Is this a thing I need to be wary about, I don’t want to be turned into a vampire!”

While Bobby was polite in hiding his smile, Saint Dane guffawed out loud. Shido frowned at him, “Knock it off! It’s a legitimate question!  _ I _ certainly didn’t want to become a vampire but I wasn’t really given that choice.” He noticed Spader’s horrified expression and held up his hands in a calming gesture, “But please, don’t worry Spader, no one’s going to turn you into a vampire. It can only be done by another vampire and seeing as how I’m the only one here, and I vehemently refuse to curse someone else to this life, you’re perfectly safe.”

No one noticed the frown that flickered across Saint Dane’s face, but he let the conversation continue.

“So who turned  _ you _ into a vampire? Do I need to worry about them?” Spader still wasn’t convinced that he wasn’t going to suddenly wake up in the morning to find he had been turned into that terrifying, fanged monster he had seen in the bedroom. Granted, Saint Dane wasn’t dead, and Shido looked normal now, but doomed to a life of having to drink blood seemed like an awful fate, and he didn’t want to chance it happening to  _ him _ !

“I don’t really like talking about him, but a vampire named Cain turned me into a vampire a long time ago. I think he’s gotten the message I don’t want to be with him, so I believe he’s just biding his time back in Transylvania.”

Bobby laughed, “Seriously? A vampire from Transylvania named Cain?”

Shido smiled back and shrugged, “He’s very traditional. Your classic vampire.”

Bobby turned toward Spader and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out and dry off. I have some drinks waiting for us out in the lobby.”

Spader only nodded and the two men clambered out of the hot spring, red as lobsters, but Spader still shivered.

“Hey, don’t worry about being turned into a vampire, Spader. In all my time on Second Earth I have  _ never _ seen a vampire before. There’s so few we think they’re nothing but fiction.” He came up and wrapped his friend in a towel and hugged him in it. “I’ll always be here to protect you, Spader, whether it’s from demon Travelers or blood sucking vampires.”

Spader leaned into Bobby and slowly began to calm down, grateful for the protective embrace and happy to be with his friend once more. “Thanks Bobby. You’re right, we’ve dealt with far worse than some woggly that bites.”  They grinned at each other.

 

“So you refuse to make another vampire, huh?” Saint Dane asked Shido, the two finally alone and able to sprawl out in the onsen.

“Of course! Why in the world would I want someone else to have to live like this?” Shido asked, offended.

Saint Dane shrugged, “Maybe because you turned Riho into a vampire?” It was a stab in the dark, he wasn’t entirely sure she was a vampire, and even less sure her sire had been Shido, but the shock on the detective’s face proved he had been right. “I can be observant too, Shido. So what’s the story behind you and her?”

Shido crossed his arms and sighed, closing his eyes. “Riho’s only been a vampire for about 20 years now, but when she started working as secretary at my office she was a human girl just about to graduate high school. She had the hugest crush on me, which I’ll admit I thought was pretty cute, but there was no way I could pursue that relationship. Her parents had been killed years ago by Nightbreeds, so I thought I’d seen the last of her when she found out I was a vampire, but she was back to work, smiling like nothing had happened, the very next day.” He shook his head, “It was around this time Cain had tracked me down again and saw her as a tool to try and get me to come back to Transylvania with him. In his mind, if I wouldn’t return to Transylvania with him, then he’d make sure I was miserable without him, so he kidnapped Riho, cut her so she’d bleed out, and then dumped her into my arms giving me a choice: save her by turning her into a vampire, or let her die and have her blood be on my hands.”

“So you chose to save her by turning her into a vampire?” Saint Dane asked. “I’m actually kind of shocked, that goes against a lot of what you preach.”

Shido frowned at him, “Riho didn’t deserve to die, and it would have been because of her association with me that her life was cut short. I gave her the choice and she pleaded to be turned.”

“Well, so would I if I was bleeding out and about to die! Anything sounds better than that!” Saint Dane countered.

“What’s done is done, and so far I don’t regret it, no matter what you or Cain say. She’s a smart and kind woman who has become an equally kind vampire, embracing the more peaceful way to live as a vampire by taking small drinks from a willing human.”

“I had noticed the band-aid on Shunichi’s neck at the dinner, so I figured he was her donor,” Saint Dane noted. “But what happened between you two?”

Shido shrugged, “Nothing, I guess. Her crush on me never amounted to anything deeper, and she’s more like my child than anything else. Yayoi and I are there for her and she’s accepted her immortal life as a vampire and is enjoying it with Shunichi.”

There, that was what Saint Dane wanted to hear, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. Shido heard it anyway and looked over at the man in surprise. “Did you just sigh in relief? Were you actually worried I was in love with Riho?”

“No! Of course not!” He scoffed and stood up, quickly wading to the onsen steps. “I’m getting too warm, I need to cool down.”

Shido grinned and used a quick burst of speed to suddenly appear in front of Saint Dane, curling his arms behind the broad back and bringing their hips together. “Then let me take this moment to confess something.” He slid a hand into Saint Dane’s white hair that seemed to glow in the soft, moonlight of the onsen, and guided his head down to his own. “It’s everyone else that should be jealous because I’m bound to you. Now that I’ve met you I don’t have eyes, or fangs, for  _ anyone _ else. You’re stuck with me now.”

“Are you agreeing to be with me no matter what?” Saint Dane breathed softly.

“I’ll save you from all the demons, both inside and out.” Shido promised.

 

By the time they were all in the lounge area, Bobby and Spader were much more relaxed. Shido had run outside to the vending machine to buy a few drinks, but Saint Dane didn’t think the two, young Travelers would be partaking, as they’d brought their own drinks. It also looked liked they’d already downed one or two cans, and tipping one to read the label, Saint Dane noticed it was chuhai, a fruity alcoholic beer.

He rolled his eyes at their giggles and drunken whispers to each other as they lounged on a couch  holding another cold chuhai in their hand. They were now in their 20’s, may have saved Halla from being taken over, even lived out entire lives, but Bobby and Spader still had as much sense as teens. At least it had calmed them down a little.

“You should probably drink some water before you start another one, boys.” He said while texting Shido to make sure he bought some waters, too.

“Okay,  _ Dad _ !” Bobby snickered, making Spader almost spit out his drink.

“Ugh, mate, that’s a terrifying thing to think about!” Spader wailed. “Seriously, what if he was a dad? Those poor kids!”

Saint Dane calmly took a seat nearby. “I loathe children, and besides, you two are immature enough that I already feel like I’m having to take care of two little brats,” he mumbled. Leaning forward he swiped the drinks for their hands and placed them on the table. “No more until you drink some water.”

“I’ve brought some water, as well as something else that’ll do them good,” Shido said as he walked into the lounge room, and Yayoi appeared in the doorway behind him with Guni on her shoulder.

“Yayoi!!” the boys cheered and Spader patted a spot next to him on the couch.

Shido sat down next to Saint Dane, handing him a beer and placing two, large bottles of water on the table between them and the Travelers. “I thought it would be a good idea to bring in Yayoi,” he explained.

Cracking open his Asahi beer, Saint Dane took a swig, “Yeah, they seem to like her.”

“Well, considering their options are her, their worst enemy, and a vampire, I’m not very surprised with their choice.” Shido handed a beer to Yayoi as well, producing a small, paper cup in which he poured some beer for Guni.

“Yeah!” Guni cheered, “It’s been forever since I’ve had beer!” She set to work on guzzling down her portion.

Yayoi glared at Shido, “Do you remember the last time she got drunk? Are you ready to pay for the damages?”

He gave a sheepish grin, “Aw, but she learned her lesson last time; she’ll take it easy on the beer, right Guni?”

Her response was a giant belch, “Yeah, sure Shido.”

“That cup is almost half her size and she just chugged it all!” Spader marveled.

Saint Dane sat back and listened to them all talk and banter, feeling oddly happy.  Bobby and Spader, with some alcohol in them and with Yayoi at their side, were looking a lot more at ease and seemed to be having fun drinking with Guni, like a bunch of frat boys at a party. Yayoi was doing her best to ration Guni’s alcoholic intake, but for every refill she denied the imp, Bobby or Spader spared her a sip from their own drink.

Shido had a small bottle of water of his own, surprising Saint Dane when he took a sip. “I thought you couldn’t drink anything but blood,” he commented.

“I can drink a little bit of water; as long as my stomach doesn’t need to digest it, it’s fine,” he replied.

“So you can’t eat at all?” Bobby asked from across the table, apparently overhearing the conversation.

Shido shook his head. Guni laughed, “I’ve seen him try it, it was terrible! He was throwing his guts up for hours!” She made fake puking noises until Yayoi shushed her with a tight squeeze of her hand.

“I want to know more about you two,” Yayoi asked, changing the subject. “What  _ are _ Travelers? The words you used at the dinner confused me.”

“I’m from another world called Cloral and it’s  _ aaaalllll _ ocean!” Spader piped up drunkenly and Bobby laughed. 

“They  _ know _ that already!” Bobby said laughing, making his friend drink some more water. He was secretly grateful because the beer had just made him more thirsty. With his own, sobering swig, he set down the water and did his best to explain to Yayoi and the others about the Travelers, the ten Territories which made up Halla, and Solara. He had a hard time explaining Solara while drunk, though.

Saint Dane, while also getting a little tipsy, took over in his explanation of Solara. “Solara is a place where the spirits of all intelligent life go, where the energy that was and will be exists. It is watched over by guardians who help guide mankind (intelligent life, be it human or Klee) toward living their full potential and using their intelligence to help others and prosper. The guardians cannot influence mankind directly but can guide them through dreams and thoughts, but they cannot force them to make a decision.”

“So, like guardian angels,” Shido suggested.

Saint Dane shrugged, but Bobby nodded. “That’s exactly what I had said when my Uncle Press told this to me! He was a spirit guardian. And you know who else was? That guy.” He pointed at Saint Dane, almost knocking the man’s beer out of his hand with the force of his indicating finger.

“Whoa, so not Doctor Who, but a fallen guardian angel!” Guni gasped, totally into the story as she clutched her precious cup of beer.

“Yeah, mister Saint Dane there didn’t like just “guiding” mankind. Press said he thought they were making the wrong decisions and he could do more if he had more of a presence in their lives so he goes and gets himself a physical body.” Bobby continued, not realizing he was still pointing until Saint Dane growled and batted it away from him.

“Yeah, well, mankind was getting on my nerves and I felt they’d do a lot better with a little more help. Besides, we had some great knowledge to share with them but nooooo, Press is all like ‘You can’t be so influential, they must learn it on their own or else everything will go wrong and Solara doesn’t prosper!’” He used a high shrill voice to imitate Press Tilton. He took an angry chug of beer. “Feh, I think I was actually helping, at first. Mankind learned some pretty useful things because of me, but they kept taking that knowledge and using it the wrong way! Argh, it was infuriating! I would give them hints and they’d turn around and do the exact opposite and suddenly the gift I gave them was being used for entirely the wrong purpose.”

Bobby slammed his beer down on the table, making some froth spray from the open tab, “Yeah, just like Uncle Press said it would happen! He  _ told _ you that everything would go wrong! You wouldn’t take the hint and kept meddling until you just took over like a frustrated parent! You’re like one of those terrible parents that does an entire project for a kid and then the kid ends up learning  _ nothing _ like the teacher intended and only becomes more spoiled and dependent on the parent!!”

Saint Dane’s face was red, but he said nothing. Spader lifted his beer in the air, “That was the best goddamn explanation of Saint Dane I have  _ ever _ heard!”

“Shit yeah it was! I’m a fuckin’ poet while drunk!” Bobby enthused back, turning to Spader and a pitiful, drunken high five was attempted. 

Yayoi hid her smile under a conspicuous beer sip, but Guni had fluttered over to join in on the hand-slapping fun.

Shido placed his hand on Saint Dane’s leg. “From spirit guardian of Solara to this, hm? No wonder you feel so lost,” he said gently.

Saint Dane’s eyes flashed in anger, “What’s done is done, I don’t expect to ever again be taken back as a guardian, or have the powers that I used to. I chose to leave Solara and live among mankind, and here I am ‘living the dream’.” His voice turned snarky but there was still anger in his eyes, as well as a deep sadness.

“I never knew you started out with good intentions,” Shido admitted, “I always thought you were just your typical villain, trying to take over the world with some sort of god complex.”

Saint Dane’s mouth twitched in a smile. “I mean, you’re not wrong, I totally had a god complex, but I had been watching over mankind for so long I had to do something drastic to get them to advance and change. You all can have the abilities we have on Solara, in the end we’re all just spirit and energy, it never gets created or destroyed, it just changes forms!”

“But we don’t have that ability because we can’t tap into that power from Solara, like you guys can,” Shido pointed out. 

“And  _ that’s _ exactly what I wanted to bring to mankind!” Saint Dane roared, finally glad to get to the point he had been trying to make. “I  _ wanted  _ mankind to have that power, to travel to other intelligent worlds and share their knowledge, to transform into others and see what it was like to live in their shoes for a day, to gain new perspectives!”

“The stupid humans would’ve just used that knowledge to destroy each other in some terrible way-hic!” Guni philosophized.

“Yeah, well, fuck me for having faith in the human race,” Saint Dane grumbled as he sat back into his seat. 

“That wasn’t faith you had in _ them _ , though,” said Shido, “If you had faith in mankind, you would have believed in them to find the power in themselves on their own, in time. You  _ knew  _ they had the potential, you were just impatient and wanted to help them along, but it was all done too early and too forcefully. Like Bobby so eloquently put it, you were being a bad parent and spoiling the child too much.” There was a grin on his face when he said it, but his eyes were understanding and sincere, and he patted Saint Dane’s knee again. “It’s like they say, ‘the road to Hell is paved with good intentions’.”

No one was prepared for the wrenching sob that Saint Dane suddenly made and he hid his face in Shido’s yukata while his shoulders heaved in wracking cries. Bobby and Spader froze in mid-high five, with Guni fluttering in between, and stared. Yayoi took out her cell phone and pretended to look at something interesting on the screen, rather than watch the breakdown of the seven foot tall Traveler.

Shido curled his arms protectively around the sobbing man’s head and held him to his chest, placing a kiss on his white hair. “It’s okay, Dane, you’ve just had a little too much to drink.”

The head on his chest shook, making the yukata open a little and his tears fell on skin now, but he stayed where he was. “You’re right Sheeds, I  _ am _ in hell! Every day on this  _ stupid _ Territory I am living the life of a race I tried to wipe out because they were too hopeless to live. Now here I am, equally useless!” He lifted his head up and his eyes were puffy and red, and he sniffled.

“No human is completely useless.  _ You’re _ not useless, Saint Dane,” attempted Shido, but Saint Dane burrowed his head once again in his chest.

“I  _ am _ ! For the first year back in this life I was barely scraping by with the money and the life Solara had set me up with. I had to find a job and an apartment, ride the subway with the press of hundreds of others in the same terrible routine as me; but that’s  _ not me _ ! I’m supposed to be better than that, better than human!”

Across the table, the two Travelers were finally coming out of their shock, and Bobby looked angry, but a glare from Shido made him take a deep breath before he said what he wanted to say. “Welcome to normal life, Saint Dane. Now that you’re on Second Earth, that’s what you have to do. You had to live a normal life on Cloral too, right?”

Sitting up, Saint Dane angrily rubbed his eyes, obliterating any lingering tears, but making them redder in the process. “On Cloral I was still under the delusion that I was coming back into my powers, but I know better than that now. I’m not connected to Solara like I once was, it’s just a mere presence in my mind, but nothing else. I was so happy when I made that flume, but I’m beginning to think Solara created it, and not for me, but for you, Pendragon.”

Bobby looked confused, “Huh? Me?”

“The guardians must be looking out for us again, and what a surprise, they want to make lead Traveler Bobby Pendragon happy with a nice little reunion with your...friend Spader,” he explained in a tired voice. “When did I become just a pawn?”

“Wait, wait, I’m so confused with so many questions,” Spader slurred out and held up his hands. “One: You don’t have your powers? Two: Solara made the flume for  _ us _ ?! Four: I just skipped a number, where was I? Three: You have a  _ job _ ?!”

“So you’re basically just a human then?” Bobby asked as well.

Saint Dane crushed his second empty beer can, “Yes! For the love of Halla, that’s what I’ve been lamenting about! Yes, Pendragon, I’m just a human with a job, and an apartment, and a driver’s license and all these things you keep being shocked about. On the outside, I’m doing pretty fucking well at playing human, but on the inside I am falling apart. So go ahead and get your jollies as you and all of Solara watch as the big, bad, Demon of Halla is brought back to life with just a thimbleful of Solaran power. Ha ha! Let’s watch him struggle!”

Shido hadn’t even noticed that Guni had flown over until he heard her voice mutter in his ear, “Sheesh, I think you found someone broodier than you, Shido.”

He frowned at her, “Have a heart, what if you were suddenly made human?”

“I would go and screw  _ so _ many people,” she sighed. “But seriously, it would be kind of a bummer not to be able to fly any more.”

“Wait, did you just say you would ‘screw so many people’?!” Shido repeated. “Like, screw them over, or…?”

“Or fuck them senseless? That second thing, Shido. I’m a tiny urban fairy, dicks don’t really come in my size.”

“I am having so many revelations this night it’s not even funny,” he observed and started to sincerely wish he could drink some of that beer.  All around the lounge there were thoughts and wishes for things that they couldn’t have, and it made for a very stifling atmosphere.

Bobby heaved a sigh as he looked across the table at the broken demon who was twiddling with his beer can, his face contorted in frustration. Shido sat next to hi and was talking quietly to Guni when he suddenly thought about the conversation he and Spader had had in the onsen.

“Huh, you were right, Spader,” he marveled. Spader blinked up at him, “Huh?”

“In the onsen, you were right. He is feeling lost, he is feeling human and vulnerable.” Bobby looked at his friend, “He  _ is _ human and vulnerable, and he’s miserable now that we know it!”

“Yay?” Spader responded.

“So, why are we even here? Why did Solara give us physical bodies again? Why make a flume for us but make us think Saint Dane did it?”

“Maybe it’s like he said, so we could get back together again, like old times.” He shrugged, “I’m having fun, aren’t you Bobby?”

Bobby leaned back and his brain did its best to flash back to the past few days. No one had gotten hurt, and really thinking on it, Saint Dane hadn’t done anything more threatening than change his hair color. Now that he knew the reason why, he wished he hadn’t worried so much about it, and paid more attention to the fact that Spader was here. He’d been too busy worrying what Saint Dane’s next move was going to be he hadn’t been focusing on the fact that he and Spader, two friends with quite the history, were back together again.

But Spader had been much calmer than Bobby this entire time--minus his new terrifying discovery of Second Earth’s not-so-mythological vampire. Spader had witnessed the deflated and defeated Saint Dane on Cloral and had come to realize he posed no threat; something he had been trying to tell Bobby since he had emerged from the flume.

So was this all the work of Solara? Why?

Spader giggled as he watched Bobby sit and stare into space, thinking hard, finally interrupting him by slapping his arm and interrupting his thoughts. “Don’t worry about it, mate. I’m enjoying myself, and you should too.” Then Spader leaned in and kissed Bobby on the mouth.

Bobby’s eyes grew wide but he sat there, frozen, and unsure what to do. Did Spader really mean to do that? They were both kind of drunk. He wanted to kiss back but he was afraid that it was the alcohol speaking and not himself or Spader who was making the decision to kiss. But it really felt good, and it had been a  _ long _ time since he’d kissed anyone, though he secretly always wanted to do it with Spader.

He had just accepted the kiss and was about to return it, when the pressure from his lips disappeared, leaving him puckered up and kissing nothing but air. 

Guni gave a loud wolf-whistle and pointed a finger at Yayoi. “Hah! I told you! Cough it up, old lady!”

“I’m taking off 500 yen just for calling me old, you little…” Yayoi grumbled. “You’ll have to wait until we get to our room, my purse is up there.”

Shido and Saint Dane were silent and staring as Bobby blushed deeply and began stuttering. “Sp-s-Spader! Whu-what?”

Spader smiled and shrugged, “Sorry mate, I thought you’d appreciate it. I kinda always wanted to.”

Bobby closed his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe, “I mean, thank you, but we’ve been drinking and beer sometimes inhibits your ability to make good decisions--not that the kiss wasn’t good, I enjoyed it--um, but I don’t want you to regret it later or…” He trailed off and turned his head away from all the staring faces. “Thanks, I enjoyed it too,” he mumbled finally.

“Good lord, I’m done,” Saint Dane groaned as he stood up from his seat on the couch. They all looked at him as he picked up his trash and stomped from the room.

“What’s his problem?” Guni asked.

“I think he’s a little emotionally run down,” Shido replied. “The man doesn’t do well admitting his weaknesses and the past few days have been sort of an emotional roller coaster for him.”

“For  _ him? _ ” The shocked and dreamy funk that Bobby had settled into was lifted and he sat up angrily. “That’s a laugh! The man should be grateful for what Solara has given him, pulling him out of the nothingness his spirit was condemned to sink into and giving him a second chance at a new life. That’s way more than he deserves after what he did to Halla!” Bobby was angry now, and stood up to lean towards Shido over the table, smacking a fist down on the tabletop.

Yet Shido was starting to seethe as well and he glared up at Bobby. “It shouldn’t be too hard for you to imagine the confusion of being brought back to life, here you are back in a physical body, you  _ and _ Spader, thanks to Solara. Saint Dane is confused too, but even more so. He expected to die and disappear, just like you thought he did, and now he’s stumbling through this other life trying to figure out  _ why _ he’s been given a second chance, but with such limited power. The same things you’re wondering. Maybe if you would take a moment to  _ think _ instead of just react to him in anger, you’d realize the two of you now stand on very similar ground.” Shido flicked his glare over to Spader. “Very similar.” Getting up as well, Shido said a curt goodnight to everybody and left the room.

Bobby deflated, and let his shoulders slump. Guni came up to him and patted his head, “Go and get some sleep, and hope you don’t have too bad of a hangover in the morning.” Yayoi was nodding and nudged the bottles of water closer to them. 

“As fun and educational as this night has been, I’ve had enough drama to last me a little while. It’s time for this  _ old lady _ to go to bed. Guni?” She held out her hand and Guni settled down into it. “Get some rest boys, sleep in, we don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow.”

That left only Bobby and Spader, confused, slightly drunk, and alone in their yukatas in the lounge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter it all happens. I promise! Also, I feel this story is getting away from me... Another chapter or two left in me, but then I think I may be done.


	4. Futures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For your illustrative and viewing pleasure, I have drawn a [nsfw illustration](https://nautishidob.deviantart.com/art/Spoon-695812431) of Shido and Saint Dane. Posted on my more...risque Deviant Art account.

When Shido entered their room, the lights were out and Saint Dane was just a lump under the covers of his futon. He let down his hair from its coiled bundle from atop his head, long purple strands twisted and twirled free to settle down his back. Not needing anything but the moonlight that filtered in through their window to see by, Shido picked his way across the floor and removed his yukata, folding it and placing it inside the wardrobe.

He slid under the covers with the lump that was keeping a sulky silence, settling down in front of the tall, warm body. Reaching behind him he found an arm, and pulled it around him like a second blanket. Snuggling down he kept quiet, listening to Saint Dane’s heartbeat, knowing he wasn’t asleep.

“Did the high school drama crew go to bed?” Saint Dane mumbled from behind, finally speaking up after a few minutes.

Shido chortled, “Probably, those two have a lot to talk about tonight.”

“Fucking hell, that Pendragon boy is so irritating,” he growled, and Shido felt the hand about his shoulders clench angrily, “He needs to sort out his own problems before he starts stirring up shit and making me out to be the bad guy. I’m trying Shido, I really am, but we’re like water and oil.”

Shido picked up the clenched fist and lifted it to his lips, kissing the knuckles gently. “You’ve actually been very patient,” a kiss to one knuckle, “admitting to Pendragon your weakness,” a kiss to the palm of his unclenching hand, “and even leaving before you got too angry,” a kiss to his wrist, and the hand caressed his cheek. “I’m very proud of you.”

“Proud, and a little bit horny, hm?” Saint Dane asked bemused, and rubbed his hand down Shido’s side, feeling no clothing, only skin that was still warm with blood and the hot waters of the onsen. “Or did the sight of those two boys kissing stir you up?”

“Saint Dane!” Shido scoffed and grabbed the wandering hand, bringing it back up to his face. “Don’t be so vulgar.”

“I tease,” he said with a small smile.

“You should be happy, those two will be bothering you much less now. Their attention will be on trying to figure out their feelings for each other, rather than worrying about your every move.” Shido brought the wrist back up to his lips, “And _ I  _ can give more attention to you.”

Saint Dane gave a moan but snatched his hand back right as he felt the prick of a fang against his wrist. He laughed, “Ah ah ah, my little mosquito. You had your fun earlier, now it’s my turn. You know what I thought about when I was on Cloral?”

Feeling a warm breath on the back of his neck, a shiver went down Shido’s back, and he pressed closer to the body that lay behind him. He felt Saint Dane start to rub against him, his hips gyrating slowly.

“I thought about you, of course, but most specifically being the one to finally take control of  _ your _ body, feel myself enter you and make  _ you _ come for  _ me _ .” Saint Dane whispered hoarsely. “That first night, when I felt you tight and warm around me, I couldn’t use my arms to hold you close, or move you the way I wanted.” As if to prove that this time was different, Shido felt the arm that wasn’t being laid upon once more moving down his body and cupping him warmly between the legs. “On Cloral I imagined so many scenarios where I would have you in my arms, under my control, and I think I dirtied so many pairs of diving suits just from imagining what I would do to you.” The hand now rubbed gently against the hardening member, thumbing over the silky skin that was quickly growing hot. 

Shido groaned softly and turned, raising an arm to rest on the head behind him. He tilted his hips up into the hand, giving in to the rhythm Saint Dane made with his own body. “Yes,” he whispered, “Tell me.”

With a growl, Saint Dane gripped Shido tightly and gave a nip to the neck bared to him. “You know what I really enjoyed when on Cloral?” he asked while pressed against the neck, and felt the rumbling reply. “There were these very erotic books I liked to read to get me going. I actually got to meet the author.”

“Saint Dane, you better be getting to a point, or else this story is just wasting that pretty mouth of yours,” Shido grumbled when the hand at his cock had stopped stroking.

“Mmm, yes my impatient little mosquito, there is a point, because these very homoerotic books that were secretly read by many people of the habitat Grallion were written by someone we both know.”

Shido lay very still, then twisted his torso as far as he could to try and look Saint Dane in the eye. “No!” He gasped, “Spader, our little Traveler, was an author of  _ romance novels _ ?!”

Saint Dane looked smug, “Spader even said it himself that he was living the life of an author on Cloral before he encountered the flume and got his memories back. He just left out one small detail.”

Shido was laughing, his body shaking in barely-contained chuckles. “Oh, I wish I was there to see Pendragon’s face when he finds out.”

“Hoo boy do I have a tum-tigger of a tummy ache right now!” Spader said as he threw himself down onto his futon. “Sniggers don’t make my head spin like this, I’m not sure I like Second World alkahole.”

A bit more soberly, Bobby came in behind them and shut the door, staying silent to Spader’s attempt to get his friend to smile. “Spader…” he tried many times to try and say what was on his mind, but there were way too many thoughts and way too little words for him to express any of that.

Spader peeked out from under the arm he hand thrown over his face as he lay on his futon. “I suppose you’ve got a lot on your mind?” He chuckled, but stopped when Bobby remained still and silent by the door. He sighed, “I’m sorry mate to throw you for a loop like this, I hate seeing you look so… serious. I’m not sorry to have kissed you though.”

“So was that kiss spur of the moment, or something you’ve been wanting to do for a while now?” Bobby asked with his arms crossed, as if defending himself against the answer.  It would be easy if Spader said it was just a drunk little peck, but deep down he knew that answer would disappoint him. If Spader had meant to kiss him, and it was something that had been on his mind, then that would open a whole other can of worms and Bobby would have to start facing some things about himself.

The slight smile that almost always graced Spader’s face disappeared but he remained in his laying position, his arm over his eyes. “When we first started out as Travelers, you were the one who told me all about who I was and what we could do. I can’t think of a happier moment in my life, and you were a part of it. Then Saint Dane killed my father, and you were there then too, and it was the lowest point of my life. You’ve been with me through so many ups and downs in my life I knew you were a true and good friend.

“After we had defeated Saint Dane and sent home the refugees I became conflicted. I didn’t want to leave and become a spirit of Solara, I wanted to continue being with you and adventuring, but you had Courtney and Mark, and I had… well I had Wu and that’s about it, but I wasn’t interested in her, not romantically. Not like I knew you and Courtney were. So while you were having a life with Courtney I lived out mine on Cloral, throwing myself into the hard work of rebuilding my world.” Bobby noticed that there were tears starting to appear from under the tan arm that hid his eyes, rolling down his cheeks as Spader swallowed thickly. “Bobby, I- I didn’t know what to do without you, so I-” His face contorted into a mask of pain and his mouth was open but no sound came out, it was the type of crying that didn’t allow you to take a breath as your whole body strained against the sadness trying to escape.

Bobby was immediately down on his knees on the futon, scooping up his friend and holding him close as Spader cried it all out. He hadn’t even realized that his friend had been so lost and lonely when they had gone back to their respective Territories, or even when they had met again as spirits on Solara; there had been no trace of any of this pain or sadness in Spader’s spirit, only the usual fun-loving friend he had always known. Yet that was the detached freedom that came without having a body.

Bobby felt Spader try to hide his face in his shoulder and he patted the other man’s back. “Spader, it’s okay, we’re here now. I just never knew-”

“It’s because I’m good at hiding it behind a joke or a smile,” was his muffled excuse. “Don’t hate me Bobby but I- I was in Solara a lot sooner than you were because I-” Spader took a deep breath and leaned back but didn’t look Bobby in the eye. “I- ended my life on Cloral.”

Bobby sat there stunned at this information. No, he couldn’t believe that his friend would chose to end his life. This man who was always so happy and glad to go on an adventure, who had helped save so many millions of lives and risked his own life so many times. Yet, Spader had always been happier with others and tended to get down on himself when he was left alone with his feelings. They had both known what awaited them when their physical body died, and had seen other Travelers and family that had died, happy on Solara--the answer of life after death wasn’t a mystery for them, but a promise. Yet Bobby was still shocked that Spader had been so depressed.

“Wait, did you remember your time as a Traveler?” Bobby asked, suddenly remembering that he had been made to forget all of his adventures when Solara had sent him back to a normal life with Courtney. It wasn’t until he was on his deathbed as an old man that his journals were brought to him by Uncle Press and it all came back to him. He explained this to Spader who shook his head.

“Not at first, but my journals were given to me by my Dad pretty early on in my life. I had been depressed and didn’t know why, so I guess he figured it would be a good idea to give me my journals early to cheer me up.” Spader crossed his arms across his chest but finally looked at Bobby. “I love my Dad, but I don’t think he understood that those journals contained the reason why I was depressed. It just finally gave me names and images to what I was dreaming about and longing for,” he looked back down again, “ _ Who _ I was dreaming about.”

Bobby felt his cheeks blush and his mind flashed back to the hotel room the other morning, when he had woken up to Spader cuddled up behind him and wondering who or what he was dreaming about. It had been Bobby, just as he had secretly been hoping, deep down. Those feelings weren’t as deep as they were before; they’d been very, very slowly inching to the surface.  

“I was lucky that Solara took me back and kept me as a Traveler spirit, it was a relief to let go of some of those Cloral desires and sufferings, but it didn’t take away everything that I wanted.” 

“Do you think Saint Dane was right?” Bobby suddenly asked.

Spader looked taken aback by this seemingly abrupt change in the conversation, “Uh, about what?”

“He mentioned that the flume to Cloral wasn’t made for him, but for me. Well, maybe Solara made it for  _ us _ .” Bobby could see that Spader was slowly coming to understand the point that he was coming to. “Yeah, what if Solara is doing all this for us? Giving us physical bodies, starting over our timeline, allowing Saint Dane to make that flume to connect us, and even making sure we find each other again through our enemy.”

“Hobey…” Spader murmured in shock, “It’s a weird way to go about it, but you may be right, mate.”

“I think Solara is giving second chances to a lot of its Travelers,” Bobby said in wonder.

Spader surprised him when he took Bobby’s hands in his own and shyly looked up at him, blushing deeply. “Then I’m going to take advantage of this second chance, Bobby, to make sure you know how I feel. It’s been a dream come true being able to hang out with you again. We might not be fluming to other worlds or trying to thwart Saint Dane, in fact, it’s been quite different than what we used to do, but I’ve been happier than I have been in a long time because I’ve been with you these past few days. Bobby, you make me happy and I want to spend as much time with you as I can, but I want to spend it with you as more than a friend.” Spader’s blush deepened but he kept eye contact, noticing his friend was blushing too, and he squeezed their hands. “What do you say?”

Bobby gulped, feeling his heart speed up and his stomach flutter. He took a deep breath and leaned in towards Spader, bringing their clasped hands up, and smiled. “Hobey ho, let’s go,” he whispered and the laugh that Spader let out was full of relief and pure happiness.

The kiss that followed was far from shy or tender, it was full of need as barriers fell and the two men threw caution to the wind.  Their lips crashed in an almost bruising kiss and Bobby was once more awash in a scent and even a taste that was pure Spader and pure Cloral. He moaned and licked Spader’s lips for more, which opened compliantly, and their tongues twirled around each other. 

Spader moaned, not believing this was happening and hoping beyond hope that it was real and not another lucid dream. Bobby tasted real with the distinct, sweet taste that was so common here on Second Earth, the smell of rain and something else he couldn’t describe flooding his senses, making him inhale blissfully. The reddish brown beard that covered Bobby’s face in an attempt to look older scratched pleasantly at his own smooth, bare face; the mustache tickling his upper lip and nose. It was better than anything he could have dreamed up, and he never believed this would happen to him. That Bobby would actually return his feelings and desire Spader in return.  _ Oh Solara, please don’t ever let this end, I don’t ever want this moment to stop. _

Feeling the love that had been building and threatening to overflow inside himself, Spader wove his hands into Bobby’s soft, brown hair, and slowly lowered the two of them onto his futon they were sitting on, taking charge of the situation. He had to break their liplock to situate himself more comfortably on top of Bobby, and the they both gasped and pulled in much needed breath. He could feel the warm, moist puffs of Bobby’s breath against his lips as he gazed down at his blushing friend, who licked his chapped lips.

Bobby smiled up with a dumb grin on his face. “Whoa, Spader. That was… intense.” Intense wasn’t even the word for it, but it was the best his brain could scrape up in that moment. His lips tingled, as well as other parts of his body, and his chest was tight, but not in a bad way. In fact, he felt like things were making sense for the first time in forever. Of course Spader loved him, and Bobby felt his heart fill up with love as well for the man that was smiling down at him. Why hadn’t he ever noticed that look before? Spader was always smiling, but this smile was just for him, and his dark brown eyes were glittering with a happiness that had finally become unlocked when his feelings were reciprocated.

He reached up with a hand and cupped a smiling cheek, brushing a thumb over a dimple. “Spader, I’m sorry to have made you wait this long, and to have been in such pain holding this back from me.”

Spader shook his head, “That’s my own fault for never telling you how I felt when I had the chance. Besides, you had Courtney. I didn’t want to come between that.”

Bobby slid his eyes to the side, “Yeah well, I did love Courtney, but… marrying her was more out of obligation than need. We worked well together but there was never that… spark, I guess. I figured that was just something that was made up, like soulmates or seeing fireworks.” 

Spader looked down on him in shock, “Oh Bobby, but you and Courtney were like two of a kind!”

Bobby shrugged, “Yeah, she was a brave, kickass woman, but there was an 8 year pause between my first kiss with my teen crush and finally being able to settle down together in a normal life. It wasn’t a bad life with her, but in my heart I always felt like there was something...more that should have been in my life. I think she knew that.” Rubbing Spader’s arms that were flanking him from either side, Bobby looked back at his friend-his  _ boy _ friend now, he supposed. “So Wu Yenza and you never got together?”

Spader shook his head, “I didn’t want to lead her on because I was frankly never interested in her. She was a great friend, but after a few attempts of trying to get us to go on a date, she finally gave up and just accepted that I wasn’t interested in being more.”

Bobby wriggled underneath and gave a smirk, “Not even a kiss? You’re a good kisser.”

“Nope, those kisses are only for you, mate!” Spader exclaimed and swooped in to administer said kisses.

They were now able to close the spaces between them as they kissed each other breathless once again. Spader gave a quick thanks to Solara for imparting the wonderful idea of these thin robes, called yukata, to the people of Second Earth. The cloth of Bobby’s yukata had started to ride up his thigh and continued on its path up as Spader ground his hips down, feeling their warm legs touch skin to skin. He wished he could just disrobe the two of them and allow their bodies to touch nakedly everywhere, but he was going to let Bobby determine their speed.

Bobby was most certainly aware of how much of his skin was coming uncovered, but the feel of Spader’s smaller, but harder, body rubbing up against his chased away any care he may have had. His body was quickly warming and awakening to Spaders touch with urges he hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever. He and Courtney had never been this heated in their passion, and it was sort of frightening to Bobby that his body could become so desperate and alive under Spader’s touch.

“F-fuck Spader, how in Halla did you get so good at this?” he shuddered out as Spader trailed hot kisses and nibbles down Bobby’s neck.

Spader paused, “Honestly, mate? I’ve never done this with anyone before, but I’ve certainly written my share of it.”

Blinking his eyes open and trying to focus on Spader above him, Bobby looked at him confusedly. “What do you mean?”

Bobby almost whined when Spader sat back and plucked nervously at the sash that held Bobby’s yukata closed. “Well, you know how you’re a teacher here on Second Earth?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “That’s the career I had when Solara gave me this body.”

“Well, Solara had made me an author,” Spader said as he twiddled with the sash. “But my books were, um, erotic fiction?”

Bobby tried to hold it in, but he burst out laughing. “You wrote  _ romance novels _ ??? Does Cloral even  _ have _ books like that?”

Spader looked affronted but had been expecting this reaction. “Yes, of  _ course _ we do. You think we’re just a buncha androgynous ninnies in swimsuits? I was actually quite the popular author in the romance novel scene, thank you very much!”

Bobby wiped his eyes and calmed down, “Oh yeah? What did you write about?”

“Weeeelllll,” Spader said, “You see, on Cloral, people of the same sex falling in love isn’t too big a deal, but it’s seen as a waste of time because you’re not contributing to the population, so romantic flings are usually brief. There’s a terrible stereotype that gay love is usually between depraved Raiders and their kidnapped victims.” 

“Yeah, it’s kind of taboo here on Second Earth, but we’re working on it,” Bobby interjected. “So is that what you wrote about? Gay erotic fiction?”

Spader blushed, “Mostly, but there was a series of books with two characters that were fairly popular. An aquaneer saves a Raider that had been left to die in the waters and then the Raider tries to show his gratitude by repaying the aquaneer with his own body.” Spader ignored the snort of laughter Bobby emitted and continued, “Anyway, the aquaneer and the Raider form a much deeper relationship that goes beyond the simple pleasures the Raider had promised, and the two go on a bunch of adventures, all the while learning more about themselves and their pasts. I ended up writing about 4 books about the characters.”

Bobby looked up with sultry eyes and bit his lip, “Hmm, so you really got into the lives of these characters you were writing? What was your muse?”

The blush on spader’s face traveled down his neck and even to the tip of his ears and he gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Don’t laugh, but I would just write about the kind of life I would want to have with you.”

Bobby didn’t laugh but was instead shocked. Somewhere on Cloral there were people reading books that were basically fanfiction between him and Spader. He was embarrassed, hoping that Spader had never revealed this secret, and prayed that the names had been changed to protect the innocent (or the unaware).

“Bobby, you okay with that, mate?” Spader asked worriedly when Bobby didn’t say anything. He had never told anyone what his characters were based off of, or that one of the characters was a self-insertion, and didn’t think there would ever be a day he’d be telling Bobby all of this. It was a slight relief to actually be telling someone, let alone the sensual muse for his novels, but the silence that followed was starting to make Spader sweat.

“I-I...heh, I was actually a novelist myself in the other life I had shared with Courtney. Most of it were just re-tellings of my adventures as a Traveler. Of course, I didn’t know that yet, but they all revolved around time traveling and action-packed adventures, demonic villains; but every one of the stories had the trusted friend that the main character could always turn to. Sometimes they fell in love, sometimes they didn’t. Courtney always thought it was her I was basing the character off of… I just never had the heart to tell her it wasn’t.”

A big hug caught Bobby by surprise and nearly squeezed the breath from him. He patted Spader on the back until the other man had pulled away. Another big grin was plastered on his face. “See? We both were missing each other and writing about it, even if we weren’t aware of it! We truly are connected!” Spader said happily.

“Yeah, but my books were for children and teens, so they weren’t very...racy.” Bobby coughed into his hand, “Uh, what kind of things did you write about?”

Spader’s grin changed, and Bobby never knew that his friend’s smile could look so...lecherous. 

 

“Mmmnnnhh, Dane, ohhh-” Shido groaned as the hand about his member stroked slowly and firmly. He was reveling in the feeling of the man behind him, tall, strong, but being uncharacteristically gentle and languid. It was a nice change to their usual violent and desperate ruttings against each other, and he leaned his head back with a low moan. Shido held his leg up to give the fingers at his entrance better access, humming his pleasure as those fingers dipped in and out of him, slick with lube. He could also feel Saint Dane’s own erection at his lower back, hard and eager, but he was valiantly keeping the pace slow and sensual.

Both were still laying on their sides, spooned against each other under the futon, their bodies creating a warm cave underneath the covers as they slid against each other and hot gasps and sighs slipped from their lips.

Saint Dane brought his mouth close to the shell of Shido’s ear, “Your body is so eager for me, my little mosquito.”

Shido gave a breathy laugh, “That’s...hah...a terrible pet name.”

“I'll think up something better,” he whispered, kissing down his neck and removed his fingers from between Shido’s legs, keeping the other one stroking the leaking erection. 

Wiggling wantonly from the sudden absence of the fingers inside him, Shido uttered a small whine. “Please, Dane…”

As he gripped his penis, lining it up at Shido’s entrance, Saint Dane gave a soft chuckle, “I don’t think I ever imagined myself ever feeling like this for anyone. Is this what it feels like to be weak and in love?”

Shido let go of his leg, keeping it up, but brought his arm up over his head to try and tug Saint Dane closer to him. He turned his head as much as he could, only able to see the bright blue, definitely glowing, eyes looking back at him from the corner of his vision. He smiled, “Nothing felt so powerfully is a weakness.”

Saint Dane’s answer was a grunt and he shifted his hips up, letting out the shuddering breath he had been holding as he felt himself slide in smoothly. His cock didn’t feel the condom at all; all was warm and tight and gripping. He panted as he kept his movements slow and fluid, continuing the rhythm he had set to their lovemaking.

Shido arched his back but did not tense up as he felt each stud that pierced the underside of his lover’s cock bump, bump, bump past the tight ring of his anus and continue to rub their way up inside of him. It was almost too slow, and when Saint Dane still hadn’t made any movements once completely inside, Shido gyrated his hips a little.  “Dane, oh fu-, you feel so good.”

“As do you, Sheeds,” he groaned in return, burying his face in the purple hair tucked behind the ear in front of him. Pacing himself and trying hard to not just give in to his urges and start bucking wildly, he began to slowly move himself in and out of the thin man in his arms. He knew it was probably his imagination, but he swore he could feel his own penis shift and poke beneath the skin near where his hand was still stroking Shido. The thought of this made him squeeze his eyes tight to fight off the urge to come right then and there. Shido was close too, but Saint Dane wanted to make sure he had given his partner’s prostate a few good pleasurable pokes first. 

He brought his arm down to Shido’s leg that was slowly growing tired and hefted it back up, making it so the other man was slightly more on top of him rather than on his side. The angle change was just what he needed as a loud cry from the vampire announced he had found his target. With a grunt, Saint Dane did his best to thrust into that spot again, panting and sweating at the difficult angle.

For Shido it wasn’t so difficult; he was practically laying on top of Saint Dane now, gripping him tightly with an arm still behind their heads as the other one attempted to keep his balance upon the slick, sweaty man beneath him. Shido felt something touch his nose, and opened his eyes to see that Saint Dane had brought his other hand around in front of his face. 

“Drink, love, and-hn-fill yourself with my blood as I fill you with my cum,” Saint Dane rasped out, panting at the effort it took him to hold off his climax. He groaned low and deep when he felt Shido’s mouth upon his wrist and the bright, piercing pain of fangs latching onto him. It was in this moment, when Shido was drinking his blood, that he felt like he was floating on a wave of ecstasy, his only anchor was Shido, his blood becoming a part of his lover’s, and their minds and emotions mixed.

It was a moment that drew them both over the edge and they shared a shuddering climax, panting each other’s names.

 

Spader’s body weighed heavily on top of Bobby, pressing him down into his futon. His dark, tan skin flushed against his own which was pale and freckled, having slyly removed Bobby’s sash and then shrugging off his own yukata. Now there were no barriers between them, but unlike the onsen, when Bobby wasn’t really paying much attention to each other’s nakedness, now it was very apparent. He never noticed just how muscular Spader was, even though most of the time the man wore a diving suit and came from a planet where swimming was just as common as walking. It made him very self aware to his own body that stayed fit through lots of walking around Tokyo, but wasn’t anywhere near as defined as Spader’s swimmer’s body. 

That unconfidence had been pushed aside, though, when soon neither of them were able to look at each other’s body as they were entwined together and more intent on kissing whatever skin they could.

“W-wait, wait!” Bobby stuttered, embarrassed when his voice cracked, but Spader stopped his attack on the pale throat in front of him to look up. Bobby blushed, “So, which of us was the aquaneer and which of us was the Raider?”

Spader laughed in relief after thinking that he was doing something wrong, or that Bobby was about to make him stop. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, but Bobby shook his head. Spader grinned, “You saved  _ me _ , Bobby. For that, I’m willing to give my body over to you a thousand times.”  He leaned closer and cupped Bobby’s face in his hands, pressing a tender kiss to his lips. “I was drowning not just once, but twice, before you came into my life. Both times Solara brought you to me and you were there to save me over and over before I could drown.” Spader ground down slowly, savoring the surprised gasp it elicited from Bobby. “So to show you how grateful I am, let me make you feel good.” This last was murmured into Bobby’s ear as his hips were once more brought into delicious contact with Spader’s. Now that the yukatas were out of the way, he could feel just how hard and hot Spader’s need was against his own.

Bobby bit his lip, unable to speak or else it would come out as a moan or a shout, so he merely nodded his consent. 

That was all Spader needed and he slid down Bobby’s body, his mouth suddenly everywhere. He licked and nibbled at a collarbone, moving quickly down to a nipple, swirling his tongue around it and sucking it to a hardened peak. Bobby had never had his nipples touched in such a way but it seemed to be directly connected to some part in his groin, and he panted as he felt his erection bob and harden even more at the strange new feeling.

He soon felt hot breath on his leaking member and looked down to see Spader gazing at his groin, licking his lips in anticipation. It was as if he was saying grace before a Thanksgiving dinner, making Bobby a little afraid at the hunger he saw in his friend’s eye; then he saw no more as the pleasure that rolled through him forced his eyes closed and his mouth open. Spader’s mouth kissed and licked, and closed over his penis, creating a wonderful suction as it bobbed up and down his length. 

Too soon the feel of that mouth left, and he bucked up, trying to find that wet, warm, delightful feeling once more. Spader chuckled, “Shhh, no worries mate, I just had to wet things down a little.” He glanced down at his own lap and gave a breathy laugh, and took himself into his hand, his long, thin fingers grasping around his hard need. As Bobby watched he didn’t think he had ever seen a more sexy sight and his breath caught in his throat. Spader rubbed himself a few more times, smearing the pearly drops that were starting to drip and ooze from the head. 

While he held himself in one hand, Spader brought his other hand down to grasp Bobby’s palm, bringing it up to where their groins met, and placing it around both their erections. Bobby squeezed his hand experimentally and they both let out a moan as it brought their erections together. 

“Go on, Pendragon, ah-ah, I want to f-feel you c-c-cum with me,” Spader gasped out, and placed his hand just below Bobby’s. Together their hands set a pace with the friction of their two erections rubbing up against each other, in the warm cave of their palms. At the same time, the two men began to move their hips, and their contact became even more heated.

“Sp-Spader, I-I don’t think-” Bobby started but, before he knew it, felt his body tense and shake as an orgasm ripped through it.

Spader gasped as he felt the hot liquid slip through their entwined fingers, but kept his eyes open to watch Bobby unravel and moan his name underneath him, an image he wanted to sear into his memory because the sight was better than anything he could have ever imagined. 

His eyes must have slipped closed as his own climax washed over him, and his own cum dripped and mingled on their fingers. Bobby was panting, but watched through a half-opened eye, and saw Spader in a new light. He never knew his friend could be so beautiful.

 

At some point, Bobby must have fallen asleep, but only for a few minutes, as he was awoken by something warm and wet gently washing him. Blinking open heavy eyelids, he smiled up at Spader who had already gotten up and washed himself off and was now kneeling down beside Bobby, wiping away the dried semen off his hip bone. 

It wasn’t sexual, but Bobby had never felt so at peace, so  _ right _ before, that he gave a great sigh and allowed Spader to continue his ministrations. Neither talked until they were both clean and back under the covers.  

Laying on their sides they faced each other in the dark room, not able to make out details in the dark, but Bobby knew Spader was smiling as much as he was.  

“Spader?”

“Hm?”

“Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

Spader laughed and Bobby joined in easily, feeling like he could continue laughing forever beside this man that had never made him happier. 

“Well, it’s been kinda tough getting you to see me as more than just a friend and ally what with all your attention being on saving Halla. Then Uncle Press sorta...shooed us back to our own Territories.” Bobby could hear Spader’s shoulder’s rustle against his pillow as they pulled up into a shrug. “Honestly, though, I don’t think I would have even had the courage or the strength to confess my feelings. Plus, you were with Courtney.”

“Oh, yeah.” Bobby’s voice was soft and embarrassed.  Spader frowned and wiggled closer, bringing the other into a hug.

“Bobby, don’t you regret your choices for a second! I was happy for you and Courtney, and I am still honored to fight beside you and her and Mark, and all the others, to help take down Saint Dane. Only we know what we did and what was sacrificed to save all of life, but in the end we saved everyone! Now all that is better and it feels like we’ve been given a break. A chance to have the lives we wanted, even the lives we didn’t dare to have. All of us. Even Saint Dane.”

“It’s still so fuckin’ weird seeing that,” Bobby interjected.

“You gotta see him as a regular man, Bobby,” Spader said seriously. “As much as he rants about the uselessness of mankind, he’s quickly falling victim to many of the same desires. I know he will always be the villain in your eyes, but don’t let that blind you to the signs that he’s changing.”  Bobby felt Spader’s breath on his cheek now and heard him whisper, “And don’t let your hatred for him consume you so that nothing else can take root in your heart. You ask why we didn’t do this sooner? It’s because you needed to let go, Pendragon, and let love in, just like you taught me when my father died.”

Bobby burst out laughing without meaning to. He couldn’t help it and he quickly tried to stifle it. “I’m sorry Spader, b-but it feels like you’re quoting a Disney movie or something! No, no, I hear what you’re saying, and I totally get what you mean: Don’t waste this chance hating Saint Dane and miss out on the people who are trying to help me and love me, like you, but all this discussion needs are some animated birds fluttering around and maybe some singing in unison.”

“Mate, I have  _ no  _ idea what you’re talking about, but I’m offended. I’m going to turn around and go to sleep.” With a huff, Spader switched to sleeping on his other side, taking the blankets with him and leaving Bobby with none.

“I’m sorry Spader! You’re totally right. I promise to not waste another moment worrying about the evil man at the end of the hall and focus all my attention on us and making sure you get the love you deserve from me.”

There was silence, and Bobby began to worry that he had truly hurt Spader’s feelings, until Spader drew an arm up and pushed some of the covers his way. “Apology accepted, but if you want to be warm, you’re gonna have to snuggle up right behind me, and maybe I’ll share the blankets.”

Bobby let out a small sigh of relief and scooched up against Spader’s back, again feeling like everything was as it should be and all was right. Pressing fully against the warm, muscular back, Bobby felt like everything fit just right.

“Is this what Solara wanted? Do you think we were truly brought together so we could fall in love?” Bobby wondered aloud as he draped his arm around Spader and hugged him close. 

“It certainly feels that way, mate. I’m feeling like I just emerged from a flume and I’m right where I want to be in my life. Right here with you, Pendragon.” 

Bobby softly kissed the long, dark hair upon Spader’s head, and they both settled into a deep sleep, comforted by the feeling that they were right where they were supposed to be: in each other’s arms.

 

Saint Dane awoke early the next morning, but apparently not early enough, as the pillow next to him was empty. He saw the sunlight filtering in through the window’s papery covering and squinted at it. He had only been asleep for a couple of hours, but it had been pleasant and deep. As he sat up he noticed there was a note on Shido’s pillow, and he snorted at the banality of it. The note was written in Romanian and the letters looped and swirled elegantly in Shido’s handwriting, which Saint Dane had never seen before.

 

Good morning love,

I hope you slept well. You seem to be having good dreams while I’m writing this, so that’s good. I wish I could kiss you goodnight and wake up with you, keeping watch to 

chase away the bad dreams through an entire night. If I’m lucky, that night will come soon. Until then, I must apologize and duck away to where the sunlight can’t touch me. I will probably be back in my coffin in the office by the time you wake up and read this. All has been paid for, and there is a delicious, traditional  breakfast waiting for you in the ryokan’s dining room.

Enough pleasantries, though, I wish to turn instead to the future. When all is done and you are taking the train back to Tokyo, what do you plan to do? Where will you go next? Back to your apartment? Traveling to Cloral again? Attempt to flume elsewhere? Or would you like to move near to Kanagawa, a place where we could fall asleep in each other’s arms and wake up the same way? I know it is a lot to ask, and I don’t know what kind of life you had made for yourself before I met you, or before you resumed your Travels, but if you ever want to try your hand at a more domestic approach to living the life of a “lowly” human, know that you can find open arms waiting to accept you back in Kanagawa.

Love,

Your Acolyte,

紫藤 龍彦

 

Saint Dane reread the note, lingering on the signature.  _ Love, Your Acolyte. _ He had used the “L” word, which was something that had yet to be uttered between them, and a word that Saint Dane did not use lightly, as he usually regarded the word with distaste.  What was it he had told Bobby many years ago? “ _ Ah, love. Love is at the root of every conflict. To say I am incapable of love is a compliment. _ ” Now here he was, many years later, reading a note left on the pillow of his lover, a man he had made love to a few times now.  _ Lover. Made love. _ That “L” word kept popping up when he thought of Shido.

“Hmph, seems I proved you wrong yet again, Pendragon.” When not concentrating on taking over Territories, or keeping his plots well ahead of the heroic plights of the Travelers, Saint Dane did indeed seem capable of love. 

Yet Shido had hit the nail on the head with his last statement. “...try your hand at living the life of a ‘lowly’ human…” If he did accept Shido’s offer of “domestic bliss” it felt as if the door to ever returning to power and chance of ever attempting to take over Halla would be shut to him forever. Was Shido worth it?

 

Yayoi sat on a bench in the ryokan’s lobby with her luggage beside her and Guni snoring softly beside her right ear. She had been able to wake up early enough to enjoy the ryokan’s breakfast of grilled fish, rice, miso, pickles, and potato salad. Simple but delicious. Yet she wasn’t the earliest bird awake to get that worm, as Saint Dane had been finishing up his own breakfast when she entered into the dining area, and she watched him from the doorway for a while before making her presence known. His forehead had a crease down the center as he plucked the last bits of meat from the fish’s bones, but his thoughts were far away from the morsels he ate. His eyes were unfocused and distant, and Yayoi recognized a man at war with himself. 

Hell, that had been Shido himself for a long time, even when he had first met Yayoi. They had both been very different people back then, she being a young adult, and he being his ageless twenty-something, but still struggling to find the humanity within himself that had been lost during his years under Cain’s “tender loving care”. They both had found a great friend in each other as well as the redemption they both sought through the slaying of nightbreeds, saving humanity as well as themselves.

Saint Dane had finally noticed Yayoi when he had stood up to return his tray to the kitchen, and gave her a small nod, quickly leaving her to her own breakfast. She hadn’t minded, and left the man to his thoughts to go and enjoy her own breakfast. She was quite happy with the quiet, as Guni was still asleep in the room, so Yayoi sipped her tea and watched the sun rise up above the foggy hills of Hakone.

Now she caught hushed talking coming her way, deducing it was the two young Travelers. Her guess was proven correct, as Bobby and Spader arrived into the lobby hand in hand, carrying their own packed bags and chuckling at something Bobby had said.  Though there were circles under their eyes, they looked happier than when she had left them last night. Yayoi felt a small jolt of jealousy. Everyone had shared their bed with someone last night except for her. Well, Guni had been in the room, and had produced the snores of a fully grown human, but that was far from the kind of roommate Yayoi had wanted to share her bed with. She sighed and shrugged it off, putting into place a mask of amused indifference.

“Sleep well, boys?” she asked, amused with their blushes.

“Very well!” Spader answered, his eyes quickly flickering towards Bobby, and blushing a bit more. 

Bobby quickly changed the topic and looked around the room. “Hmph, and I see that the two little lovebirds are sleeping in?”

“You’re the last two to wake up,” Yayoi smirked. “Shido probably didn’t sleep, but instead left last night to go and be safe in his coffin before the sun was well into the sky.”

Bobby rolled his eyes, “Of course he sleeps in a coffin.”

“What?! Is this another weird vampire thing?” Spader asked slightly horrified. Yayoi and Bobby both nodded.  

“So then Saint Dane is awake? Did he return to Tokyo with Shido?” Bobby asked.

“No, I’m still here,” Saint Dane replied as he too entered the lobby, looking the most tired out of all of them. Dark circles graced the skin under his eyes which lacked their cold, blue luster and instead were the dim blue of an overcast, snowy day.

“Are you sure about that, mate? Because you look like your mind left and what's standing before us is more like the husk of a bug,” Spader gave him an experimental poke and his point was proven as just the light touch made the tall man rock back a bit on his heels.

Saint Dane rubbed his arm absently, “Yeah, I'm here.” He ran a hand through his hair which looked like he hadn't even tried to brush it. “Just a lot on my mind.” 

Bobby and Spader exchanged glances and shrugged, leaving the man to his thoughts as they gathered up their things and made their way to the bus stop.

 

“Pendragon, can I ask you something?”

Bobby turned away from the window to look at Saint Dane who had finally spoken up from his seat across from them on the train. “Shoot,” he replied.

Saint Dane took a moment to look around as he gathered the thoughts in his head, also stalling because he really didn’t want to have this conversation with Pendragon. Finally he sighed, “What do you plan to do now?”

Bobby started a bit that Saint Dane would ask such a question, or even pretend to care. “I don’t really know what you mean.”

Saint Dane frowned, not wanting to explain himself further, this conversation was already tough enough. “I mean, when we get back to Tokyo, where Solara has given you a life, and a flume to Cloral where Solara has given Spader a life, what are your plans? Where will you go?”

Bobby cocked his head to the side as his brain thought the question over. He already knew what he was going to do, but he wasn’t sure why the demon wanted to know. He looked over at Spader who had been listening as well, and he shrugged his shoulders, apparently having no reserves in telling Saint Dane their plan.

“Well, we talked about it and I’ve decided to go to Cloral to live with Spader for a while. We have the flume, so I can always return here if I need to, but I kind of miss the waters of Cloral.”

“Also, my job pays more than his, so he was more than happy to move in with me rather than the other way around,” Spader piped up and Bobby elbowed him angrily. “Oh, was I not supposed to reveal that?” He asked with his eyes wide with playful innocence.

Turning his head, Saint Dane hid a small smile in his hand as he watched the two men argue playfully. Even during the days of his hostile takeover, Saint Dane had known that the Travelers Bobby and Spader were more than just friends and fellow Travelers, so he had been shocked when he found Spader alone on Cloral and heard that Bobby had gone on to be with that Chetwynd girl. Now Solara had rearranged timelines and space to give them a second chance; and only after a night of confessing their love for each other, here they were as easy with each other as they had been before. They had even made the decision to live together on Spader’s territory already; agreed upon as easily as if they had been thinking about it for ages. Who knows, maybe they had been thinking about being together for ages, but no one had ever made the first move.

Saint Dane envied the ease in which their relationship was progressing, although a lot of their comradery had been strengthened during the war, and their relationship was built upon a very strong and lasting friendship. He and Shido hadn’t even known each other for more than a month--well, in Shido’s timeline it had only been a month, for Saint Dane it had been many more months. Yet even with more time to think about it Saint Dane was still uneasy and unsure what to do with this opportunity Solara had given him. 

“So, are you going to reveal your dastardly plans then?” Bobby asked when Saint Dane continued to brood silently in his seat. “What are  _ you _ planning to do when we get back to Tokyo? Go back to your job as a member of the yakuza? Planning to take over as Prime Minister and build up Japan’s army?”

“Pendragon, if I rolled my eyes at you one more time, they’re going to roll right out of my head,” Saint Dane grumbled. “No, my job is actually a personal trainer at a gym, although I have trained a few yakuza members, but nothing as diabolical as what you’re thinking.”

“Jeez, you really are vain,” Bobby laughed, and then laughed even more as he tried to picture Saint Dane teaching people how to do squats. Then stopped when he also thought of having to be under the brutal tutelage of the demon making you do extreme exercising; that sounded like literal torture.

Saint Dane merely shrugged the comment off, “I’m currently at an impasse when it comes to my future here in Second Earth, Pendragon. What comes so easy for you is not so easy for me.”

“What about Shido?” Yayoi asked, having put down her book to listen in on the conversation.

Bobby and Spader turned their heads back to Saint Dane, enjoying the sight of the demon blushing and looking uncomfortable. 

“I-I don’t know Yayoi, I mean, I’m not going to leave him or anything...if I was I wouldn’t do so without telling him about it first. He’d need to find a new donor if I was planning to go away-”

“Go away?!” Spader said a little too loudly, “Saint Dane, why in the name of Halla would you do that? Throw away everything that Solara has given you just because you feel uncomfortable admitting your feelings? That’s the most cowardly thing I think I’ve ever heard you say!”

Saint Dane’s eyes flashed angrily for a moment, and Spader knew calling him a coward would get a rise out of him. 

“It’s not cowardly,” Yayoi said in his defense, “But I’m sorry to say, Saint Dane, it is a very human reaction.” Saint Dane huffed and crossed his arms defensively as his three fellow passengers all looked at him. Yayoi continued, “You at least owe Shido an explanation if you’re going to run away from your feelings. He understands running away pretty well, in fact, but he might be a little sad to hear it’s your relationship with  _ him _ that you’re running from.”

“I’m not running from  _ him _ -” Saint Dane started but was cut off by Bobby.

“It sure sounds like that to me!” He made his voice go high and mocking, “ _ I’m Saint Dane, macho bad guy, I don’t want to admit I might be falling in love like a lowly human and possibly be happy with someone. I must continue to be broody and dark and evil while I consider myself trapped here on Second Earth!” _  He stopped and pointed across to him, “You, that’s how you sound right now. You sound like a wishy-washy punk in one of those ridiculous shoujo manga they have around here.”

“Where would you even go, then?” Spader asked, “It’s either here or Cloral, and you don’t have the powers you used to have.”

“I don’t know! There’s really no place for me  _ to _ go, and I’m feeling like I really don’t have a choice, and that’s why I’m so angry! I want to make my own choices, I don’t want to follow some predetermined path Solara has made for me, I want to find for myself what makes me happy, or where I belong, but I’m like a dog on a leash: I can only go so far until my leash chokes me back!” Saint Dane said in an angry rush and he abruptly stood up from his seat. “I need to use the restroom. Excuse me.” He left quickly, leaving his other three seatmates in a shocked silence. 

“I guess I can see where he’s coming from,” Yayoi said slowly and Spader nodded.

Bobby frowned, “Yeah, but he refuses to see that what little he’s got is more than he would have if Solara had just let him disappear from existence.”

“I don’t think he’ll ever see it that way,” said Spader.

 

Saint Dane did not return to his seat until the train was about to arrive in the Shinjuku station. He made sure to avoid the looks of disappointment and suspicion or even, in Spader’s case, a look of sad understanding. He didn't need them just like he never needed anybody, but even thinking that gave him a pang of guilt because he would immediately think of Shido. He didn't really  _ need _ Shido-- in fact it was the vampire who needed  _ him _ , and deep down that dependency made him feel wanted. It gave him a reason to be here in this large, noisy city and some sort of meaning in his pathetic life.

Saint Dane had grabbed his luggage and was going to try and lose the others in a crowd when he felt a sharp tug at his shirt collar, jerking him backwards. Yayoi had snagged him and pulled him aside and out from the sea of people before he could escape.

“Not so fast, Saint Dane,” she said and placed her hands on her hips. “I have things to say before you disappear, maybe even disappear forever.”

Saint Dane tried not to look guilty and huffed at being caught. He didn't see Pendragon or Spader anywhere which was good, and Yayoi was glad as well. Saint Dane had a tendency to close himself off when they were near and she hadn't had a chance to talk to him alone yet.

She sighed and her shoulders drooped, making her look more her age. “Listen, I can't tell you to do anything, but I can at least ask you to keep Shido in mind while you're mulling things over. I've never seen him--happier is too strong a word for his broodiness so we'll say ‘more engaged’--in the past few weeks. He truly likes you-”

“He left a note on my pillow and used the 'L’ word,” Saint Dane interrupted.

Yayoi chuckled, “Ah, so that's what has you so flighty. I'm honestly shocked he would use that word as he doesn't use it lightly, and it seems you understand that, but I don't want you to be so afraid of it that he never sees you again. Tell him to slow down, if that's what is bothering you. Talk to him rather than just run away.”

“I don't know what to do with that word, Yayoi,” Saint Dane attempted to explain, “I've never had a use for it and I've been told plenty of times that I don't even deserve it.” He shrugged as if these claims were of no consequence. “It truly is an emotion I thought was needed only for the weak--” he saw Yayoi start to interject but continued, “--BUT, Shido is strong, stronger than I in many ways, and I believe he does not give his love haphazardly.”

Yayoi was shaking her head, “No, you've got it all wrong. Love isn't what makes you weak, it makes you stronger when you discover what you're capable of,  _ for _ the one you love. It's a kind of strength that I don't think you ever experienced or considered, and that's frightening to you.”

Saint Dane grimaced and immediately wanted to snap at her asking “ _ How would you know?”  _ but stayed silent.

She smirked, almost knowing what he wanted to say. “See? It's already starting. You kept your mouth shut because you care--if not for me, then at least for Shido--and avoided a confrontation for the sake of love and friendship.”

“Hey, now _ you're _ moving too fast,” he countered with a smirk, but was kind of rattled with Yayoi's observation.

“Love can come in different forms, some longer lasting than others, but I consider you a friend. Now it's up to you whether you return that friendship and make Shido happy, or if you ditch it and run away from your feelings.”

Saint Dane wanted to nod but was very confused by everything right now. His thoughts, his feelings, his memories, his future, all of it was overwhelming him right now and he just wanted it all to stop for a second. 

Yayoi handed him a slip of paper, “Here, this is my cell phone number and email. If you're not comfortable with talking, text me. If it's going to be long, email me, but please don't disappear without saying anything. You  _ are  _ loved and you  _ will _ be missed.” And with that, she turned and walked away, disappearing effortlessly into the crowd.

 

Bobby and Spader had looked around for Yayoi and Saint Dane but to no avail. They had successfully avoided the two Travelers, and they were pretty sure that was Saint Dane’s goal all along. Hopefully, the lack of Yayoi’s presence meant she had gone after him. They waited on the platform for a few minutes but gave up when the crowd for the next train departure forced them to clear the way and leave.

It was only early afternoon and Bobby didn’t want to try and get to the flume until the trains had stopped running that night, so he and Spader enjoyed the day playing tourist, visiting the Sky Tree,  Sensō-ji, and eating their fill of ramen like there was no tomorrow. There was a tomorrow, but it wouldn’t have ramen, it would have the fresh-grown crops from Grallion (now better and without poison).

They wound up in a manga cafe to take a break from the sun and crowds they'd been shoving through most of the day. Taking advantage of this cafe’s extended-stay services they were able to get in a shower and a nap. 

Bobby woke to Spader in his small cubby with him, reading a volume of One Piece, and he smiled at the choice. 

“Enjoying your manga about pirates?”

Spader started, not realizing Bobby was awake, but looked at him and grinned, “This comic is really weird. Why is everyone drawn so...oddly?”

Bobby shrugged and sat up, making himself comfortable beside Spader. “It’s just the artist’s style. Does it remind you of the Raiders on Cloral?”

Spader shook his head, “Not really, most of these characters seem to be good guys. And this one here, the guy that can stretch, he likes to smile a lot and have fun. I like him.”

“Huh, I guess you are a little like Monkey D Luffy.”

Spader snuggled closer, “I can’t wait to be with you on Cloral, it’s going to be so nice to have someone.”

Bobby hugged him and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “Don’t worry. I’ll be beside you wherever we decide to go.”

 

When they left the manga cafe it was dark out, but they felt refreshed, clean, and had read through almost 15 volumes of One Piece. Bobby decided to blow the rest of his yen on a viking buffet, hoping to get all the foods in that he will miss on Cloral. It seemed a bit selfish to flume back to Second Earth just to satiate a craving for steak.

Spader continued to goggle at the wide spread of food and was determined to try as much as he could. In the end, they both waddled out in very much the fashion of Monkey D Luffy.

They arrived at the Higashi-Kanagawa station with plenty of time to spare before the last train. Bobby felt he should have expected it, but was still surprised to see Yayoi and Shido (and probably Guni somewhere) standing around in the main part of the station.

Yayoi gave them an uncharacteristic hug when they walked up. “I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye when we left the train this morning, boys,” she explained, “It was either that or catch up to Saint Dane before he disappeared.”

“We figured that’s what happened,” Bobby said nodding. “Where did he go? Is he not here?” 

Yayoi shook her head and they noticed that Shido slumped a little. “No, he said he was going to go home and think things over.”

“Pfft, wuss,” was Bobby’s comment.

Spader gave Shido a pat and smiled gently, “Don’t worry, he’ll come back to you. He’s already a lot different than our last encounter with him, and that amount of change in a person is bound to be stressful.”

“As much as I hate to say it, I agree. Not once did he try to kill any of us, and I didn’t notice any shape shiftings on the sly, so that was a nice change,” Bobby agreed.

Shido sighed, “Yeah, I think I spooked him by asking him what he is planning to do and about our futures. I asked for too much too soon.”

“I don’t think so, it’s fine to want to know what someone’s plans are and if you’re going to be a part of them. That’s all part of being in a relationship-oh, yeah, Saint Dane wouldn’t really know about that though. Eh, he’ll come around. Give him time. Or go after him, that works too.” Bobby shrugged and then looked around him. There were only a few other people left in the station, signifying the last of the trains were probably arriving.

Yayoi looked at her watch as well. “Yes, it seems it’s about that time. We won’t go with you to the flume, but we wanted to at least come and see you off.” She smiled at them, “It’s been a fun few days and a pleasure to meet you both.”

Spader gave her another hug and they both shook hands with Shido, thanking him for everything and getting a rare smile from him. They also got a tiny farewell and wave from behind his ear from Guni who looked extremely hung over. 

Casually making their way down to the platform, but making sure not to be seen by any of the remaining guards or conductors, they slipped down to the subway tunnel that held the flume. The air was still warm from that day’s activity, but it was already quiet for the night.

Bobby held Spader’s hand as they groped the walls for the door, finding it more quickly this time. It helped that Bobby wasn’t drunk this time, and he smiled sadly at the memory of just a few days ago. He hoped he didn’t cause too much trouble for the school when he didn’t show up. He had sent an email with a letter of resignation, but his method of quitting was so unprofessional there was no hope in ever working in that school again. He hoped Kenji didn’t worry too much about his sudden disappearance from the school.

“What are you thinking about?” Spader asked as they entered the flume, and he began to take off his Second Earth clothes to reveal the diving suit he had put back on underneath in the manga cafe. Bobby was going to have to wait until he got to Cloral to get his own diving suit but wasn’t worried.

“Oh, just thinking about a guy I worked with at the school. He was nice, I guess I could call him a friend. I just hope he doesn’t worry too much about me.”

Spader smiled, “See Bobby, this is why I love you. You care about everyone.”

Bobby took Spader’s hand and looked down into those dark brown eyes he loved so much, “I’ve got a big heart, I can share the love, but there’s only one person who gets all of it.”

Spader’s big, happy grin filled his face and made his eyes crinkle, and he stood on his toes to kiss Bobby softly on the mouth. “Well then, my big-hearted love, let’s go!”

“You mean Hobey-ho let’s go?”

“Yes!” Spader laughed and then yelled, “Cloral!” They clasped their hands as the familiar light and sound of the flume washed over them and their hearts raced synchronously for the adventure of being together again.

 

One month later…

 

Shido slowly opened his eyes as he awoke from his dead-like sleep. He could stay awake during the daytime, but when he lay down to sleep in his coffin it was a sleep that was hard to wake from. His body seemed to know when the sun was making its way down over the horizon and would naturally wake up when its deadly rays were safely snuffed from the sky. He lay there awake but unmoving, not wanting to get up to face the night. Another night he would spend worrying and wondering where Saint Dane was. He had had to drink from Yayoi twice now, and each time he became both sad and angry at Saint Dane. He knew that Shido needed him! Yayoi even said she had made sure he knew to contact Shido whether it was to give an update or say goodbye, but not a peep had been heard, and that filled him with both rage and sorrow. 

So Shido slipped into manic bouts of depression, working hard to try and forget his feelings, and then just as quickly slipping into a lethargy that made him stay in his coffin for long amounts of time. He had texted and called and even gone to the area where he remembered seeing an address on Saint Dane’s ID. It was only when he started to feel like Cain in his desperate stalking that Shido eased off his attempts to find the Traveler and just stay in his office.

He paused in his sad reflections of the past few weeks to listen to the sounds outside his coffin. He couldn’t hear Guni’s voice, but there were sounds of shuffling. It was the muffled sound of a heartbeat that caught his attention, because it didn’t sound like Yayoi’s. In fact, it was a stronger, more familiar heartbeat.

With a desperate leap of his own, cold, undead heart, Shido opened the lid to peek out and saw that he was not in his office. He was in a small, unfurnished apartment, and underneath the single ceiling light, sitting on the floor drinking a cup of tea, was Saint Dane.

He looked up from his tea and smirked, “About time you got up, lazy bones.”

Shido opened the lid the rest of the way and stood up, stomping over to where Saint Dane sat calmly, and wished the man was standing so he could smack him, so he settled with hitting the top of his head. “You-you...jerk!” He yelled, watching those broad shoulders flinch. “Where the hell have you been the past month? Why didn’t you call? You think it’s cute to just come and kidnap me while I’m sleeping and expect me to just forget those weeks I spent feeling sick to my stomach? Oh, and don’t get me started on how you have me hooked like a freaking addict to your blood! I had to drink from poor Yayoi  _ twice _ since you left and it tastes like mere water to me now compared to your blood! She gave you her number and email, you know where I live and work and have my number,  _ why didn’t you call? _ !” Shido seethed as he stared down at the white-crowned head. Saint Dane merely put a hand out and patted the floor next to him. It was then Shido realized he was still in only his boxers that he slept in and sat down a bit sheepishly, but still angry. He wished his face would flush in anger right now, but he was really hungry and bloodless at the moment.

He waited while Saint Dane infuriatingly finished his tea, angry that the pace of this conversation was going to go the way Saint Dane wanted it to go, which was so like him. So instead he looked around at the apartment. It was clean and bare, no furniture, with a door that separated this small room from the other major room which was for the kitchen and dining, and the usual small bathroom and a balcony connected to the room they were in. He tried to determine where they were by looking out the balcony window but only saw a tree and the side of the apartment building next to them.

Saint Dane finally spoke, “It’s not much, but it’s all I could afford in this area at the moment. I recently took on a second job at an elementary school, a teaching position had conveniently opened up there, so I moved to this apartment to be closer to the school.”

Shido forgot his anger for a moment. “Where are we?” he asked.

Saint Dane laughed, “Honestly? We’re about two blocks away from your office. Yayoi and I threw a sheet over your coffin and just walked it down to the apartment. I got an earful from her too when I appeared at your office, but I deserve it. Even that pathetic whap to the head you gave me.”

Shido sat back with a confused look on his face. “So wait, for the past month you’ve gotten a second job and moved into a new apartment?” 

Saint Dane nodded as he poured himself more tea. “Mhmm, it was all very fortuitous, as my gym opened up a new location near here and I asked to be transferred to it. Then I went apartment hunting, and this was available and in the price range of my current salary. Finally, I looked into the school Pendragon had worked at and his position hadn’t been filled yet, so I interviewed for that and got that job as well. I start that next Monday.”

Shido shook his head, “And during all of this, it didn’t occur to you to pick up the phone and send a text? Or call me? I know you were aware that I would want to hear from you. Didn’t you see the note I left at the ryokan?”

Saint Dane couldn’t look Shido in the eye, knowing those green pools would be filled with worry and sadness. So he looked down into his cup as he explained. “I read it.”

“And…?”

“And I guess I froze up. I don’t know how to respond to those questions! Thinking about what you asked in that letter meant dealing with the fact that I would have to face the fact I was human and not a Traveler. That I would have to take responsibility, not live paycheck to paycheck, because I would need that money for a future that I would have to work for in normal human fashion. Also, I don’t know how to handle a relationship!”

Shido scoffed, “You at least know the basics, and that includes  _ contacting _ the person you are in a relationship with!”

“I know, and I’m sorry I didn’t, but I just sort of froze up and had to be alone for a week. I didn’t leave my apartment. I was basically a hikikomori for a while because I didn’t want to be reminded of the human life I was being forced to live.”

Shido heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You need to start looking at it from a different angle or else you're going to drive yourself crazy. You're not being forced to do anything-”

“Oh really,” Saint Dane interrupted and cocked an eyebrow, “So plucking me raw while making me cite a list of people I've killed wasn’t a way to force me into submission but was just fun and games?”

This made Shido pause and his mouth opened and closed many times in an attempt to defend himself. “I-I, well… okay, fine. I was kind of angry when I heard you killed Spader’s father and I saw this as an opportunity to make you feel pain as well as getting rid of the feathers. I'm sorry, I didn't see it as forcing-”

“Sheeds, it's okay. I was being sarcastic… sort of… and it was my choice to go along with it and be submissive, but there's many other factors that are making me feel forced to live like a human.”

He had taken Shido's hands in his and they both stared down at their entwined fingers, one very pale making the other’s look even more tan than they were. Shido sighed, “I'm still sorry though because I know you've been trying and your demeanor and actions have really changed since we first met. You no longer make creepy side comments, for one thing, or have that gleam in your eye like you're just itching to start a fight, especially with Pendragon.” He paused for a second and then asked in a quiet voice, “If you still had your powers, would you have left me and gone back to your original plan?”

“Honestly? I would have asked you to join me, to which I'm sure you would have said no, and then I probably would have gone on to flume to the other Territories to see if I was able to bring them all back down. I wouldn't have given you the time of day outside of that one night we shared and had gone on to learn nothing from my mistakes and not see humanity in a different light.”

“Thanks for the honesty, I guess?” Shido commented and they both shared a nervous chuckle. “But you  _ don't _ have your powers so you  _ did _ learn from your mistakes and you  _ do _ see humans differently…is that what you're saying?” 

Saint Dane smiled faintly, “I guess I am.” He leaned to the side and dug his hand into his left jeans pocket, bringing something out that Shido couldn't see. He upturned their clasped hands and placed the item into Shido's. A small, brass key glinted up at them. “I don't think there's anything more human than having to work to pay rent and then inviting someone to share that space with them so that it can feel like a home.”

Shido's hand closed tightly over the small key but he didn't trust himself to speak just yet, worried his voice would crack. Finally he cleared his throat and smiled, “You have a very minimalist sense of style.”

Saint Dane grinned, “Oh, the movers will be here with my stuff tomorrow morning. I just wanted to make sure I moved in my best piece of furniture first.”

“I see, I'm just a piece of furniture for you to use.”

“You said it, not me, but I was honestly thinking of using your coffin as a table.”

“What?!”

Saint Dane grinned mischievously, “Oh sure, it makes for a great surface to put books and drinks on, maybe have it out in the dining room there, the TV in front of it. It'll be multifunctional, like an IKEA hack. Turn your coffin bed into a goth-chic table during the day!” He was laughing now and it was infectious, the two men continued to laugh at the thought of it, happy to indulge in the mirth after brooding and worrying for so long. “Besides, you'll be asleep in there, you'll never even know it if I spill some soup on you.”

When he was finished laughing Shido looked into Saint Dane’s eyes, pleased with what he saw there. They weren’t scared or flighty at the thought of sharing an apartment, the key in his hands was proof of that, nor were they flashing in anger at being trapped to act like a human. They were bright blue, but not icy, and they held the usual confidence and smugness that made him sit up straight; he really had thought things over and the decisions he was making now were ones  _ he _ wanted to make. 

Saint Dane noticed Shido looking at him intensely and he cocked his head. “Yes, Shido? What are you thinking?”

He started at being caught in his staring, never quite realizing how obvious his mind trips were. Shaking his head he looked back down at the key in his hand then back up to Saint Dane. “I’d ask if you’re sure about this, but I know you have thought everything through and you’ve made your decision. I’m really happy and proud with you right now.”

“Enough to forget that I didn’t call or tell you what I was doing?”

“I’ll forgive you if you let me take a drink. You being gone for a month has left me craving you so bad it’s scary.”

Saint Dane leaned forward and kissed Shido. It was the beginning to his apology but he wanted some stipulations as well, and now that he knew he had this sort of control over Shido, he was not ashamed to use it right away. He pulled away slowly and waited until Shido opened his eyes to speak. “I’m going to make damned sure we catch up on all the sex and blood we missed out on this past month while I was away hiding, but first I have something I want to ask of you.”

Shido leaned back further and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Alright, I’m listening.”

“Well, I don’t know how much help I’d be, and tell me if you think I’d be a hinderance, but I want to help you and Yayoi slay nightbreeds. It sounds like something that would help… satiate my more violent tendencies.”

Shido frowned a little, “I’d want to train you a little first so you know what you’re getting into, and I don’t want you to ever give in to a demon’s possession. They’re dangerous Saint Dane, and they know exactly what you want to hear and prey upon your weaknesses. You would be putting us all in danger if you were ever possessed.”

“But what if you turned me into a vampire like-”

“Absolutely not!!” Shido interrupted and slammed his palms on the floor. “I’m going to make my own request right here, right now: never, ever ask me to do such a thing!”

The other man winced but said quietly, “Even if I were dying?”

Shido glared at him, “You’re not dying and I will do all in my power to make sure you don’t ever come  _ close _ to dying, so end of that discussion. Jesus, Pendragon would have my head if I ever turned you into a vampire…”

“That’s what’s stopping you? The wrath of Pendragon?”

“It’s more than just that, but believe me when I say I will not do it. I’ve seen the future of a rogue fledgling and I don’t want to have to do that to you.” The sad look in Shido’s eyes pleaded that Saint Dane drop this subject and he nodded to the silent request. 

“Okay, I won’t ask again, but please Shido, I still need you to help me get used to this life.”

Shido sighed and the sadness left from his eyes, replaced with a more happier glimmer and he nodded. Standing up, Shido held out a hand in an offer to help Saint Dane to his feet as well. When they were both standing in the middle of the partitioned room, he pulled at the jacket Saint Dane was wearing until the other man got the hint and shrugged out of it. He grinned, “Your new life doesn’t have to be  _ completely _ normal, I can promise you that.”

Saint Dane shivered in anticipation as he watched Shido’s eyes go from green to a predatory yellow, the pupils turning to slits. “Well then, how about we christen this new apartment and you can show me how vampires do it in a coffin?”

Shido pulled Saint Dane in close to him and looked up into his eyes, his other hand already undoing the buttons on his shirt. “With pleasure,” he growled, and yanked him towards the open and waiting coffin in the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Lookit that! It's finished! Well, for now. I have little mini-stories I'd like to write, but for now, maybe I can get back to actually doing chores and getting sleep instead of waking up super early to write and edit this. XD Best bit of writing advice I've ever gotten: "Write like you're having an affair." Dude, totally works. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! It got away from me a bit towards the end there. I just want to write more about Shido (who is obviously my original fandom) and god help me, I've unearthed a Nightwalker fanfic series I loved so long ago and it's once again making me want to write more vampire-Shido stuff... Sorry Saint Dane, I'll focus on you too again soon!


End file.
